Bonds of Magic
by Zaxxon
Summary: AU/6thYr. There are many types of bonds: Bonds of Friendship, Bonds of Brotherhood, Bonds of Family, Bonds of Citizenship and many more. The Bonds of Magic encompasses them all.
1. Chapter 1

Bonds of Magic  
Part 1  
#define std_disclaimer.h/alternate_universe  
This is an alternate universe, based off of canon, but not restricted to canon. Thus, only certain characters, situations, elements of the source canon universe are used here, in full or in part.

#define std_disclaimer.h/harry_potter  
Novel and movies series created by J K Rowling, and is used without permission for the sole purpose of the entertainment of its fans.  
Version: 2010_06_28_01  
Beta-Reader: None.  
**Z**axxon's **B**eta **R**eader **L**ist yahoo group: zbrl

* * *

Harry Potter sighed as he walked down a little used corridor within Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Things had been going well for him until the Welcoming Feast. He had what was a tedious summer with the Durleys, studying, practicing, training, sleeping and eating. All of which was not that much fun, but necessary. All of which was made easier by the fact that he had used the Room of Requirements, before leaving last term, to obtain all the necessary material to commandeer the wards around Privet Drive. A task far easier since he was the foci of said wards and he was inside them. Also all the camping gear that his godfather had bought for him, a wizard-tent, fully stocked mansion within what would appear to be a Muggle two-man tent. Sirius had also gotten him several books, new clothes and shoes, and other items that a young wizard with a Dark Lord and hordes of fan-girls after him needed. He had taken precaution and dowsed Hedwig in potions and placed wards upon her to protect her, thus allowing her to safely handle his mail to his friends, questions to his professors on school work, several textbook authors asking for clarification and questions on theory they were expects in, and several unanswered queries to the Ministry of Magic on Sirius and his behalf.

The ride to Hogwarts had been pretty standard, catching up with his friends, Malfoy's meaningless taunts, and arriving at Hogwarts for the Welcoming Feast.

After the Welcoming Feast, Dumbledore had called him up to his office to discuss his "disappointing disappearance" over the summer, which he easily deflected with made-up a story about Mad-Eye Moody's security measures and having followed Dumbledore's own instructions. Knowing that Dumbledore believed so much in magic, itself, it was easy for him to use Occlumency to make it seemed that he was telling the truth, regardless of the flaws in his story. If Dumbledore's own Legilimency said he was telling the truth, then Dumbledore believed him. It also helped that Fawkes, unexpectedly, backed him up, producing several pages of Dumbledore's _notes_ that Harry had followed during the summer.

He had only signed up for NEWT Defense, NEWT Charms, and NEWT Transfiguration. He had also signed up for several "Independent Study" courses on Potions, Enchanting, and Spell-Analysis. Three magical areas he had come to love during his summer studying.

He was quickly seeing the difference between NEWT classes and OWL classes. In OWL classes, it was all about memorization and theory on basic, everyday magic. NEWT classes, the students were required to read the material ahead and but everything together on their own.

Two good examples were the NEWT DADA and NEWT Charms classes.

In NEWT Charms, they were studying the creation of wards and Professor Filius Flitwick was just there to offer advice. There was no "hand-holding" instruction on ward-casting, just the assignment to protect a miniature house from various damages. The assigned book only listed how a useless ward could be established over something, but the student had to figure out on his own how to change and adjust the example to fit the requirement of the class assignment. His experience with the wards around Privet Drive and his studies helped a lot in that class.

In NEWT Defense Against the Dark Arts (DADA), they were practicing how to defend against dark wizards and how to duel. The class textbook listed only the rules of formal, informal, and free-form dueling, example of some significant, historic duels and it was up to the student to come up with their own style.

The new DADA Professor was Hit-Witch Elizabeth Eaglestone, who was under contract to Hogwarts for a year. In her first class, she showed that she was heavy on practical side, and extremely light on theory. The opposite of last year's class with Umbitch was structured. More over, where as Umbitch was ugly, Professor Eaglestone was quickly considered one of the hottest witches at Hogwarts, of any age. She was in her late twenties, very good-looking, and gentle yet firm in her class. She had a truly desire to make sure everyone could defend themselves.

She seemed a bit more focused on him, than he would have liked but it did give him a chance to duel against a professional Hit-Witch. Normally, he would be dueling against a fellow student, but as the odd-man out, he was paired with the Professor. To both their surprise, he was actually holding his own, although she was holding back a bit. Although, each class, she held back less and less, and he pushed himself more and more.

Everything seemed to be going okay, save one thing.

Hermione Granger.

For reasons she was not sharing, Hermione Granger had seemed to have going through the Hogwarts Library looking for information. She was a witch on a mission.

A mission to annoy and disturb him it seemed to him.

On the rare occasion, he got her to speak with him, it was always "later", "not now,", and "no, it's not about Voldemort." Otherwise, she tried to avoid him. This, for her, was not easy.

After a week or so of putting him off, she had finally was going to tell him what was going on. But he had to meet her in an unused classroom that was off the beaten path.

As he entered the classroom, empty save for a couch-like furniture and Hermione, herself. But upon seeing her, he could only stare at his best friend of six years as if he was seeing her for the first time. Before, he had only seen her in the baggy outfits she wore on the Hogwarts Express and her Hogwarts School Uniform robes.

There standing, looking cute and nervous, was Hermione Granger. She was wore a thin, almost see-through yellow sun-dress that seemed to cling to her womanly form. And based on his limited knowledge and observations, he did not think or see how she could wear anything else. The sundress ended just about her lower-arse level. He was sure if she bent over, he would be able to confirm quite easily if his theory on her lack of undergarments was correct.

Her hair was done up in a pony-tail. He could not recall her hair being anything but untamed and bushy. The pony-tail was more of a style that the other girls in Gryffindor House used than her. The same with the almost three inch heels she was wearing. He had to admit, they did make her legs seems more sexy and feminine, somehow.

Gone was his best friend, who happened to be of the female gender, and somehow been replaced by this sexy, young woman. Oh, he had always known that Hermione was a girl. Girl dorm, girl bathroom, and such were very big clues.

Also he could not miss those melons attached to her chest. He actually wondered when they had _arrived_ and why he had not noticed them until now. Probably due to the concealing nature of the school robes and baggy clothes she wore.

Upon noticing that he was done checking her out, she flung herself into his arms and rested her head upon his shoulders, crying. "Oh, Harry." She sighed. She kept repeating, "I'm so sorry" over and over again.

"Hermione, what's going on?" he inquired in confusion. She had been distant towards him, even going so far as to try to avoid him. For the classes they had together, she was the first to leave and the last to arrive. During class, she seemed a bit spaced out. Fortunately, the classes had been only review of the past five years, and vague warnings about the NEWT exams coming next year. Still, the teachers did not seem concern. Of course, there were the same teachers that had allowed all the bigotry, violence, and abuse to happen without any repercussion or consequences.

"Oh, Harry," Hermione signed again and clung to him as if her very life dependent upon him. Her sundress seemed to have somehow bunched up, exposing the lower parts of her lovely arse that he was very curious to touch, but restrained himself, to only hold her around her lower back. He was being very careful not to get too close to her arse. He was a hormonal teenager though, and was very curious how a feminine arse would feel like in his hands, as well as the rest of the mysterious bits of a woman.

With his arms around her, she got herself under control and started to babble while resting her head upon his shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Harry. It was horrible. That evil... witch. Umbridge was trying to set you up all last year. She told me... at the end. She had the so-called trial all lined up and planned out. The _trial_ would be a complete farce, and purposely a week long to drag everything out and the hit hard towards the end so that gossip on the weekend would be out of control and no one would know where or care where you were exiled to. Ron, she planned to just throw into Azkaban for a year or so. And me... me... She had the nerve to say she'd just have me Kissed immediately, as no one would care if a mud-blood like me got _justice_ or not." Her voice tried to mock Umbridge as she said, "Someone more deserving of magic would get my wand, at discount, since it would have to be fumigated to work correctly."

"What?" Harry roared. His mind was spinning and wondering what had brought this on. Umbridge had not been seen since Hermione had tricked her into the Forbidden Forest at the end of last term. Plus, at the Welcoming Feast and during the trip on the Hogwarts Express, Hermione was happy and looking forward to the new school year, and all the _higher magic_ they would be learning for their NEWTs. Still, Harry had to ask, "But Umbridge couldn't have had you just have you Kissed..."

"Oh, Harry," she remarked, "but she could... as any _high-level_ Ministry official could. I've checked the Library and with various teachers. Trials are only given to pure-bloods. A Half-blood might get one, such as yourself, but the rest of us, are at the mercy of whichever Ministry official wishes to _dispense justice_."

"But?" Harry inquired.

"It's all about the Houses and the Heritage Ritual," Hermione answered. "It's archaic! It's barbaric! Argh!"

All he could do was hold onto her and offer what support he could. He did not notice that his hands were now resting upon bare skin.

"It's like the Roman Empire, all over again," she said. "Patrons and vassals. Lords and slaves! Lords can do anything they wish, and the rest of us have to just take it! The more I learn about the Wizarding World, the more backwards it is!"

She continued to rant and crave for several moments, still clinging to him and laying her head on his shoulder. It was a surreal experience for him. It might have been a dream to him, if she had not several of her rants were very similar to his Uncle Vernon's rant about the Muggle World. Not what you know, but who you know , how much money you have and such things.

She calmed down a bit, and continued, "As I'm _Muggle-born_, I am worse off than a House-less witch, as my parents don't count at all. Muggles have no standing within the Wizarding Worlds as magical bonds and magical contracts have no effect upon them, save certain specific circumstances that are too rare to happen. I have no Family Magic to offer or inherit to boost my standing.

"A House-less witch, at least, still has some family and friends to back her, plus whatever history or knowledge she could take away. And just because her father or Lord doesn't wish her for some reason, there might be others that will. A Muggle-born has nothing to offer, no history, and no lore, just herself. Marriages within the Wizardry World are usually the result of a magical-bond which is formed between a wizard and a witch. These bonds can form at any time, and under numerous conditions, thus are very easily to make. That's why you have to be careful, Harry. You could make a bond with anyone and not even knowing it.

"The main concern is opening and closing, which deals with a witch's magic-core. When a Witch is born, her magic-core is closed, until she has intercourse with a Wizard. When he ejaculates into her womb, while only one sperm is needed to fertilize a Witch's egg, each of those sperm has magic within it, and all that extra magic goes into her magic-core, opening it. Cracking would be a more accurate description actually. It is through these _cracks_ that a witch's' magic seeps into her child, more so than the Witch's own magic within her body. Not only is this seepage make the child more magical, but allows a witch's core to grow."

"What about a wizard's core?" he asked in curiosity.

"A wizard's core is never _closed_ like a witch's," she answered. "From the point of conception, a wizard's core is constantly growing, while a witch's core only grows while in the womb and after it's been _opened_. This is why many witches wish to be opened. That and the bond that forms between her and her Wizard, gives her comfort and stability. Also why a wizard will usually be more powerful than a witch."

Harry held onto Hermione, absent-mindedly caressing her naked lower back, as he asked, "So I take it in this _transfer_ of power, a Wizard is weaken, and can be bound. But why can't an open witch do that too?"

"The ritual would prevent the wizard's magic from touching her closed core, and only a closed core, that would allow the witch to manipulate the wizard's magic within her to bind him. An open-witch can't do," was Hermione's answer. As a seemingly after-thought, she added, "Plus, a close-witch cannot bind a Lord."

"What?" Harry said puzzled.

"Any wizard with a sworn follower, ideally ten or more, but just one will be enough to protect him from a closed-witch," she stated. "Or a wizard with a bond with the magical-realm can all be called a _Lord_. It's the origin, at least within the Wizarding World, of _Jus Primae Noctis_, Law of First Night.

"A witch who wishes to marry could go to her fiance's Lord or Head of House to be opened, safely on everyone's part, and the all the bonds formed would strength the House. The witch would be bond to the House through the Lord, and the husband would be bound through the witch, as well as his original bond to the House."

As Harry was pondering this, she added, "Many assumed this was our situation between you, me..." She hesitated a little and then added, "And Ron."

"Huh?" was his response, he had no idea how Ron got involved into this very strange conversation he was having.

"From a Wizardry point of view, it makes a twisted kind of logic," she pointed out with a bit of humor. "There are strong bonds between us... and Ron... for various reasons. Not knowing what we've been through, it's easy for others to assume that that bond was formed from you _opening_ me. Either you took pity on completely clueless Ron or just followed one of the older ways making Ron your vassal, by _sharing_ me with him."

"But," he began.

"Harry, it's all magic and bonds," she remarked. "That's what the Wizarding World is built upon. It is the responsibilities imposed by Magic and Tradition that keeps the Lords in check. Of course, these days, there are so few Lords... You can guess who two of them are."

Harry just nodded, frowned a bit, and getting back on track he prompted, "And the Heritage Ritual?"

Hermione blushed and stated, "Heritage Ritual allows a pure-blood or half-blood to _come into their Family Magic_ somehow. As such, no one thinks of Muggle-born, but Family Magic does have to start somewhere, after all. Honestly!

"The ritual itself is just a declaration of who you are and that you're of age. Usually, one's parents stand with you. But one's Master or Lord can stand in place of them..."

"You wish for me to be your Lord," he cut in. "Both to protect me and for you to do the Heritage Ritual to establish your own Family Magic."

Watching his face as he spoke, she just nodded her head and waited. Carefully, she did press herself against his body, holding him close to her body as she waited his response.

He signed and said, "Fine. What do I have to do?" He could not fault her logic, and he did want to help her. That it would piss the pure-blood factions off was just a bonus. Plus, as Hermione's Lord, he could get her to rest and relax more. He felt that she got herself worked up too much over too many things. He was a bit wondered that she would not graduate, but would end up a patient at St Mango's, for stress and burn-out.

She could not help let a few giggles escape. She made sure to rub his body, in what she hoped was a pleasurable way. A bit nervous but determined to continue, she stated, "You just need to relax as there isn't much you for you to do. I'll be doing most of the work."

He just looked at her, just knowing she had not told him everything. And whatever she was holding back would be something he would not like.

She fidgeted under his stare, and continued, "well... for the Ritual, I'll have to be completely nude, as the day I was born. As well as, it would be best if you would _open_ me just before the Ritual, for maximum effectiveness. During the Ritual, itself, you'll need to draw some runes upon my body, as well as, touch me in a somewhat intimate-manner... I don't know how, as the Ritual itself, will _tell_ you how and what to do. Whatever that means."

He choked on his nervousness and remarked, "Naked?"

"By me performing oral sex on you, we'll have a bond between us. Not as great as when you _open_ me," Hermione stated in an off-handed manner in an attempt to get him to relax. She added, "It's supposed to be very pleasurable for wizards..."

A look of complete shock, as he had not pieced everything together just yet, appeared upon his face. Slowly, his face relaxed and a look of determination filled his eyes. His eyes seemed to have a soft glow to them, radiating a hidden, restrained power.

Looking more nervous and uncertain, she inquired, "Harry? You'll still do this? Please?"

Not trusting his voice, he just nodded his head to show he would continue.

Not trusting her hands, she triggered the finishing spell she had placed upon the transfigured sundress and stood naked before him. With her courage showing in her eyes, she said, "I know that I'm not much... I'm not beautiful like Susan or Lavender, but I will follow and obey you always, Harry."

It was not a formal pledge, nor any magical oath that he had studied over the summer, and yet, he felt some connection - a bond - form between them. It was a very strange, yet familiar feeling. He was aware of her, in a way that he was not sure he could describe.

All of a sudden, he knew things he was sure he did not know before. The foremost among them was that Hermione Granger, his best friend, was determinately nude, leaning her body into his, and her hands were busy getting into his inner pants. He just knew that she had planned this out, and was actually looking forward to what she was about to do.

What she was doing was directing him to the couch, while working the fasteners to his pants under his robes. He could also, somehow, feel Hermione's beautiful naked body against his own, through his robes.

She quickly worked to free his fleshy wand out and as she caressed it lovely, she remarked in a voice that was both very serious and yet somewhat playful, "Always remember, Harry. Good witches swallow." With that she kissed his fleshy wand and proceeded to perform oral sex upon him.

When he ejaculated several moments later, he was not sure if it was his imagination or not, but he could feel a small piece of his magic leaving his body and entering Hermione's. He could also feel a sense of containment and happiness radiate from her.

She licked him clean, replaced his fleshy wand back into his robes and snuggled up along side of him, not bothering to dress or cover herself.

Seeing this, Harry began, "Uh-huh, Hermione. Shouldn't you..."

She placed a finger on his lips to silence him, and repeated, "I need to be naked for the Ritual, and you need to be able to not only deal with that, but even touch me without embarrassment or hesitation. I know it's a challenge, Harry, but I will make sure you enjoy it. To help, I've found several spells that will enchant my _clothing_ to be transparent to you. We will need to _practice_ every chance we can."

He put his arm around her, pulling her closer to him, and remarked, "It's not a challenge, Hermione. I do want to help you out. And if sex and you being nude is what you need for all this, then who am I to argue?"


	2. Chapter 2

Bonds of Magic  
Part 02  
#include std_disclaimer.h/harry_potter  
#include std_disclaimer.h/alternate_universe  
Version: 2010_06_28_01  
Beta-Reader: None.  
**Z**axxon's **B**eta **R**eader **L**ist Yahoo Group: ZBRL

* * *

"It's just Hermione," Harry kept telling himself.

Of course, it was _just_ Hermione and nothing else. No clothing, no books, nothing but Hermione. Her. Him. Alone in an unused classroom with nothing else but the couch they were rest on.

Well, he was resting on the couch, fully clothed, but with a completely nude Hermione upon his lap. Okay, technically, she still had on a pair of high-heels, but shoes did not count as clothing. And she had not _sealed_ him back up, from her wonderful - _performance_ was the only word he could think of - that she had performed upon his fleshy wand. He could feel a bit of a draft down there, but that was also off-set by Hermione's fingers, which were caressing _him_ still.

"Hermione," he began with a shaky voice.

She seemed to completely fascinated with his fleshy wand, a look of complete concentration appeared upon her face, and she had seemingly forgotten about everything else. Which shown, as her head jerked up to look at him. She blushed and replied, "Yes, my L... Harry?"

He was trying to look at her nude body, but it did not seem that it would be proper to do so. That it was somehow wrong to do so.

"My L-" she began, "Harry. Please look at me. I know I'm not much, but you must be able to see me and touch me, Harry."

He knew she was correct, and although, he did have to correct her on, "Hermione, you are a lovely girl, as much as Susan Bone or Lavender Brown. It is just that this is way out of my experience. We have a couple of weeks until your birthday." With a determine look upon his faced, he added, "I will try, Hermione."

He knew that she knew that he was serious and she smiled at him.

She reluctantly got up, and stood before him. She then proceeded to use herself as her demonstration model for pointing out key female anatomy parts, their _names_ and what effects he might induce by touching her there.

He got up, stood before her, and touched each named part as she mentioned it. He also allowed his fingers to caress her smooth, silky skin. On her advice, he also cupped her breasts, weighing them, feeling them and massaging them.

He had to admit, that having a female breast, especially one as nice and full as Hermione is. It felt good in his hand, and he enjoyed the look of pleasure that she got on her face as he explored the pair.

How long the two of them explored her body, neither could say. But he did point out that they would need to get back to their dorms soon.

Hermione was reluctant for Harry to stop touching her.

Wandlessly, he casted the time-charm, and saw it that curfew was coming up very soon.

She looked at him, surprise on her face, but said nothing. She knew he would just brush it off saying it was just his practicing a lot during the summer and not to the fact that wandless ability had more to do with power and understanding of magic itself than a summer's worth of practice.

She pulled her book-bag out from behind the couch and placed her clothes out onto the couch. There was a pair of panties, a bra, the inner school robe, the Gryffindor House tie, pants, socks, and the outer school robe.

She took her wand and went to tap her clothes with it when she stopped, looked at him, looked at her bra, back to him, and back to the bra. She then went back into her bag, took out a piece of parchment, waved her wand over it, and then handed the parchment to him.

He looked it over. It was a charm he was not familiar with. He could see that it was a limited-area area applied to the body, but not what it would do. He looked to Hermione.

She looked at him, and lowered her eyes as she said, "I'm not sure what the pure-bloods call it, but I've called it the _bra charm_. I've only found that recently, among all the other information I've uncovered recently. It will provide all the support my breasts need, without all the hassles and problems a bra has. I've tried to cast it on myself..." She blushed a bit, looked down and then back up at him and continued, "I was hoping that it might be easier for you to cast it upon me."

The charm casting instructions were pretty straightforward, and he could see that the wand-movements would be a bit awkward to cast upon one's own breasts.

He looked around for his wand, which he seemed to have lost track of while Hermione had performed oral sex upon him.

Seeing him looking around for his wands, Hermione handed her own wand to him and said, "Here, you can use mine."

When Harry touched her wand, she felt a warm rush spread through her. This was almost as good as the feeling around her breasts as the bra-charm settled over them. It felt like Harry was holding them, safely and securely in his hands.

He returned her wand and she tapped her inner and outer robes, her socks, ties, pants, and shoes. From his perspective, her clothes and shoes took on a transparent nature, much like a clear window. She gathered bra and panties and handed them to him, saying, "They'll just get in the way." Not knowing what else do with them, he placed both articles of feminine clothing into his inner robe's pockets. He stuffed them in deep, afraid that the two feminine articles might fall out or be exposed otherwise. He did not wish to have to explain what he was doing with them.

The two, now _dressed_, ended towards the Gryffindor Tower. The common room had a few students still up studying, playing various games, or just hanging out with friends. They ignored everyone else, and just headed to their respective dorm rooms.

Once in his dorm, he placed Hermione's bra and panties on the bottom of his trunk, got out his pajama out, changed, and got into his bed. Once in his bed, he casted his normal set of charms, which he had recently turned into a ward-set, and placed his wand under his pillow for easy reach. While he thought it unlikely that he would actually be attacked within his own dorm, he could not afford to leave anything to chance if he could help it.

He dosed off for a bit. He knew that some time had passed since he had laid down, but not sure how much time had passed when he was surprised to feel Hermione slide her nude body over his pajamas. She placed a finger upon his lips for him to be silent as she whispered, "We have less than two weeks, Harry. We need to make the most of the time we have."

He nodded his head in agreement, and she removed her finger. She then took his hands and set them upon her naked form to explore her more.

When he accidentally pinched her in a somewhat sensitive spot, he started to apologize, but Hermione started to explain how as her Lord, he would be expected to punish her, according to the situation and to correct her. She went on and on about it, seemingly almost eager for him to hurt her then and there. It was very disconcerting to him at her willingness and even eagerness for him to use her for both pleasure and pain.

He did not want to deal with such thing, even knowing she had several good points that he could not refute. But, he was her Lord, so he placed his finger upon her lips to quiet and said, "Hermione, go to sleep."

And as if he had casted a sleeping-spell upon her, she did.

* * *

Having been _raised_ by the Durleys, Harry was a light sleeper by nature and he could awaken very quickly. Thus, one point he was asleep and the very next moment he was not. He quickly identified that he was in his bed in the sixth-year Gryffindor House dorm. He also knew he was not alone, and that someone was Hermione Granger.

A completely naked Hermione Granger was between his legs savoring the feel and taste of his fleshy-wand that she had pulled through his pajamas, as if it was her favorite icicle on a hot summer day.

She seemed to sense that he was awake, moved her hair out of the way and looked directly into his eyes. There was a look on her face as she looked at him that he could not place. She stepped up her performance upon his fleshy-wand, while maintaining eye contact with him.

He found himself orgasming shortly thereafter. He noted that she took her time cleaning him off. She also had a smile on her face as she looked at him again and said, "Good morning, my Lord." Her eyes seem to shine as she said the word "my" and had an unknown-to-him look as she said the word "lord."

It was a look that he wanted to see more often, and yet, it caused various feelings throughout his body that made him a bit uncomfortable.

Hermione then seemed to _glide_ up his body, with her hard nipples trailing against him, which he could feel through the pajamas. He had heard from one of the upper-classmen that an aroused nipple was hard enough to cut glass, and he wondered if that was true. He did not see any cuts or scratches, but he could feel where those nipples had been.

She stopped a few moments from his lips, and a few scents, which came from Hermione's scented shampoo, reached his nose. She looked into his eyes with a bit uncertain but determined look upon her face as she whispered, "Please, come to the Library with me."

Since learning of the _Tempus_ spell, and especially, since losing his watch during the Second Task, he had become which prolific with it that he could easily cast it wandless and practically subconsciously. So he knew the time and mentioned, "But, Hermione, the Library doesn't open for another hour and breakfast won't be ready until then either."

"Madam Pence allows me in early, Harry," she whispered. "Besides we could always just sneak in." The way she said "we" made it sound more like "he", and he had in fact snuck into the Hogwarts Library, especially the Restricted Section, numerous times throughout his six years there. Many of which he had not gone with either of his friends. Nor he had ever told either of them about those trips. There were several such things that he kept to himself. He had so little he could truly call his own.

With a pleading look, she asked again, "Please." She also rubbed her nude body against his pajama-covered body.

He was not sure of her behavior, nor did he like it, but he did know that she had her reasons. She probably wanted to show him all her research, which would be a good thing. Still, his displeasure was noticeable when he said, "Fine."

Hermione noted his displeasure but also his agreement, and got off of him quickly. She quickly gathered his toiletries and clothes, which she put into his school bag, and dragged him out of his bed and dorm. Unmindful of the fact that she herself was nude and he was only clad in his pajamas.

She lead, or rather dragged, him into the Boys' Shower Room, and she selected one of the stalls that was a bit more private than the rest as he, himself, had set up various charms and this year wards around it.

She proceeded to undress him and wash his hair and body quite thoroughly.

If it was happening to someone else, Harry knew he would be amused, but it was happening to him, so he was tolerate of Hermione's enthusiasm. It was a bit strange being washed by someone else, especially such an enthusiastic girl as Hermione, who seemed to make sure his fleshy-wand and ass was squeaky-clean. And yet, she also seemed to be rushing through everything, as she wanted to get to the Library as quickly as possible.

He had to order her to get dress, as she seemed perfectly wishing to go through her day completely nude. Of course, with her outfit transparent to him, she would be doing just that.

They got to the entrance of the Library when there was still a half an hour before it would open. She explained that the door would open quickly and shut just as quickly, so they would have to rush through. She was not sure that she could technically allow others within, but figured they could try that first. She took a piece of parchment that was three inches by five inches out, told him to get ready, waived it at the door, which quickly opened. They did rush through, but Hermione did commented that the door actually only closed itself after Harry was completely through, not the rush that she had come to expect from it.

She quickly walked around, pulling down books, and looking through the shelves.

He motioned for her to stop, which she did, and he asked her, "Why don't you just summon the books you want?"

She could only look at him. Her eyes blinked and she seemed to contemplate his words, but could not seem to comprehend them fully.

He added, "This is a magical library, after all, so it only stands to reason that magic would place a large part in how it's used." With that he said, "Accio books on Heritage Ritual."

A dozen books of various sizes gently deposited themselves upon the table in front of them.

Hermione could only stare. She did not think the summoning charm could be used in such a vague manner. All the books specifically stated that the charm would only work with a specific item stated and kept in mind.

There were several books she had not found before. Of those, two held only a page of information that other books held more detailed. But she did spend the next hour or so showing him all the references and information she had found.

So into the new books and trying to explain what she had already found, she missed Dobby the House-Elf's appearance and the food that he brought with him. She only dimly registered the breakfast sandwich that her Lord had her eat and several beverages that she drank.

This would become their _habit_; Hermione would wake Harry up by practicing her oral sex skills. They would share a shower, she would dress him, and he her, and they would go to the Library. Within the Library they would research what books they could find on the Heritage Rituals, magical lords, Houses, patronage system, Wizard Governments, Opening a Witch, Wizardry Traditions and Customs, and any other subject they could think of. They would then have their breakfast in the Library as well as their other meals, brought by Dobby, and they would attend classes as needed.

They would stay within the Library until Harry got tired or Harry noted that Hermione was which point he would call it a night and send her to bed. And the pattern would repeat.

* * *

Harry had to admit that Hermione's plan of seeing her nude and touching her every chance he had seemed to be working. Why just today, she had found a sex-magic book and not once did he blush or react in an embarrassing manner.

The book had several interesting _rituals_ and charms for lovers to perform for mutual pleasure, it held little less. But the book held more important information then a simple how-to sex manual for Wizards and Witches. It was what was not said and how what was said was important as well. It showed a vastly different view of the Wizarding World then what the Weasleys had presented to them.

Harry was beginning to realize that his vision of the Wizarding World had been shaped solely by the Weasleys and his dealings with the Ministry. He was making the same basic mistake that Hermione made regards to the House-Elves, using Dobby and Winky as representatives of their race over all. He never checked with others, just taking everything with blind faith.

Still, Harry erected wards around _their_ table, as he had begun to think of it. The wards gave them some _privacy_, not that others would not know they were there, but they would not see anything wrong, and would not bother them needlessly.

As such, Hermione was able to talk him into allowing her to be completely nude within the Library. Even to go so far as to sit in his lap.

Which was how several of Hermione's _study_-partners found them. He knew the group had slowly formed over the years. Third and fourth year, saw several witches from Hufflepuff House seeking her out for help, in ones and twos, from their year and younger. During fifth year, the group officially formed, and _Defense Associate_ study group was a by-product of that original thought. By having him _teach_ it drew more from the other Houses.

Regardless of its actual origin, Harry knew it was a good idea, although, he would have preferred one of the Seventh Years leading it. Still, he was not completely clueless about the other houses, although limited to his own year and those his _adventures_ had crossed.

He easily recognized Susan Bones of Hufflepuff House in the front, followed by Padma Patil Ravenclaw House, and Daphne Greengrass of Slytherin House brought up the rear. He was not sure if Susan was pulling the others by sheer willpower, or the others were pushing her front. Either way, the group was slowly but determinedly making its way to them.

As she was sitting in his lap, he could easily feel the nervousness radiate off of Hermione.

The three witches stopped a short distance away when they noticed that Harry was there, being hidden slightly given the wards and Hermione's position in his lap.

Seeing the three witches pause made him recall one of the rare chances he got to watch the Durleys' Television where something similar was presented, feeling a bit bold and lacking anything else to know what to do, he paraphrased what the main character of that scene had said, "Sit. Friends of Hermione's are welcome."

The three witches quickly sat down in compliance on the other side of the table. Just as quickly, they each placed their wands upon the table, casting-tip directly deliberately away from him and Hermione. He noted that Greengrass had a neutral look and was looking around as if seeing that particular table and corner of the library for the very first time. Meanwhile Bones and Patil looked comfortable and had secret smiles upon their faces.

Seeing the gesture about the wands, and recalling a Western tale he had read, he placed both his and Hermione's wands in a similar position on the table. Greengrass's brow arched in surprise at his action but she remained silent upon his gesture. He was sure, he had done something unexpected and held greater meaning than he meant as a sign of trust and friendship.

The silence lasted until Susan could not contain herself anymore and asked out of curiosity, "How do you know we're Hermione's friends, Harry?"

He smiled at her, and answered her, "its one thing to be part of a study group, but it's another to be together outside of study-time. Besides, I can tell you wish to see how she's doing and all. So I'll leave you all be." With that, he placed Hermione onto another chair, took his wand, and went to his dorm.

About twenty minutes after he got into bed, not that he was counting, Hermione joined him, sliding her nude body up his legs and stopping a bit to perform some oral sex before resting her head upon his shoulder. He had to admit, he was surprise none of the Gryffindor Witches had mentioned or said anything of the lack of Hermione in her own bed, as she had been spending a lot of time in his. He did place a few wards around his bed, but they were not that much different than the ones he had been placing around himself since he was able to cast privacy and security charms back in his first year. That they would also _protect_ Hermione from his dorm-mates' notice was just a bonus.

* * *

Harry was relaxing in the Gryffindor Common Room while Hermione was in her Rune Class. He was going over his school notes and notes for the Heritage Ritual when he heard a loud Ron ask him, "Where have you been, Harry?" He could see the irritated look upon his face.

A bit nervous, Harry remarked, "Hermione's seventeenth birthday is coming up..." He was not sure how much to tell him about the Hermione's Opening and Heritage Ritual.

But Ron interrupted with, "So soon? Wow... where has the time fly? Seems like it was just yesterday we were First Years." He nodded his head and finished, "In that case, I'll just keep out of the way then."

Harry could only look at his other best friend in surprise, and realize that either Ron was making some false assumptions again. Or he really did know what was going on and was giving his two friends room.

He was not sure which case he would prefer. He also realized that he had been neglecting Ron, but he did not care. With that thought, he returned to preparing to help Hermione with her project.


	3. Chapter 3

Bonds of Magic  
Part 03  
#include std_disclaimer/alternate_universe  
#include std_disclaimer/harry_potter  
Version: 2010_06_28_01  
Beta-Reader: None.  
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The next couple weeks flew by for Harry. Of course, spending almost every moment awake with a very sensual, very nude Hermione played a big part in that. Especially, as she seemed to believe that his fleshly-wand needed constant attention from her. If he did not know better, he could think that somehow she was addicted to it. She did admit that she felt that performing oral sex upon him was "pure Wizardry".

While Hermione and her research did take up most of his time, his school work did not suffer having read ahead and practiced during the summer. That and the work he did to commandeer the Privet Drive wards away from Dumbledore and the Ministry, as well as, getting in _touch_ with his magic made his NEWT school work pretty easy. OWL-Level school work had concentrated on theory and developing one's everyday spell casting abilities. NEWT-Level school work involved refining that theory and applying it to one's field/career.

Finally, it was September Nineteenth. Hermione's birthday.

The exact time of her birth was important to Heritage Ritual, so he had Hermione ask her parents via a letter delivered by Hedwig for that information. It turned out that she was born around mid-day, so they had the morning to perform the Opening Ritual and whatever other preparation that might be required for the Heritage Ritual.

He had also thought to include the Purification and Healing Rituals that he, himself, had done when he could do magic at Privet Drive as they had seemed to helped him a lot. Both were major rituals and were more complicated than the two they had originally planned. It would not be good to mix rituals too much. So Harry did not push for them, besides, they could perform those two ritual at any time or place afterwards.

He was surprised to realize that he had woken up before Hermione, something that had not happen before the couple of weeks they had been sleeping together.

He casted the time charm and noted that they had some time before they needed to start their day. Hermione would probably like to go to the Library one more time, but they were as prepared as they could be.

He casted a few charms to move her nude body from between his legs up along his body to be next to him. He just watched her sleep for a short time. She looked so innocent and exposed.

Just as she had enjoyed his fleshy-wand, he had become interested in her fleshy-wand-sheath between her legs. He had found he had enjoyed touching her, there and elsewhere, and did it when he could such as now. His touch was gentle enough, if intimate, that she did not wake up as he started to caress her between her legs. Without waking up, she spread her thighs, moved-without-moving more into his touch, and a slight smile appeared on her face. She began to purr after a few moments.

How long he sat there, caressing her and watching her sleep, he was not sure. As he watched, he renewed his vow to himself that he would take care of her, protect her, and guide her, as her Lord and Master should.

A calm seem to envelop his mind like the Imperious Curse would, but he felt no instructions or outside influence upon him. Also his mind felt sharper instead of the wooly sensation that accompanied the actual curse.

His hands trailed over her nude form, from her toes to head and down to her chest. He found himself twisting one of her nipples and whisper into her ear, "Wake up, my pet."

She moaned a bit, whether in pleasure or pain, he was not sure. But her eyes opened and sought out his own. The small smile remained on her face. Softly, she replied, "Good morning, my Lord."

He smiled back, pulled her out of the bed, grabbed a bag and pulled her down the hall to the wash rooms.

She was a bit surprised when he stopped her from washing him as she usually did. He placed a finger upon her lips and softly said, "From here out, you are not to talk, unless spoken to or it's absolutely necessary, my pet."

Hermione opened her mouth, whether to confirm her Lord's commands or to question them, even she was unsure. She was sure that felt the mild pain-curse that he casted over her sensitive nipple that his left hand was next to. Even though it was a mild pain-curse, its effect was magnified by targeting a sensitive spot. Still, it was nothing compared to the pain she felt seeing the look of disappointment upon his face.

She lowered her eyes, thus, she missed Harry reaching into his bag and pulling out a few potion-bottles. She really did not notice until she felt a cool-sensation on top of her head followed by his fingers running through her hair. She really wanted to ask why he was washing her hair, and what he was washing her hair with. But more importantly, she did not want to disobey him either.

While she knew that his Potion-skills were much better than Mister Snape gave him credit for, she also knew that the potion had to be store-bought. Although, he had time to do so, she was unsure, as she had spent as much time with him as she could.

She had done so for several reasons, first and foremost, performing oral sex upon her Lord was as close to true Wizardry as a witch could get. Although, how calm and relax Harry was after his orgasm was well worth whatever price she would have to pay. Of course, the mini power-boost she received and the temporary magical bond between when she ingested his seed were other reasons why she did it. And she had to admit, a part of her still believed that all she had to offer him was her total devotion and loyalty.

Such thoughts quickly fled her mind as Harry's fingers worked through her hair and scalp. Soon, all she could feel where his finger-tips as they worked a couple of potions into her hair and skin all over her body. All she could do was purr and moan in pleasure from all the sensations her Lord was giving her.

She only let out a bit of a squeal of surprise as a finger or wand entered her anus. She could feel an enema charm filling her bowels with warm magical-solution that will leave her cleaner than any Muggle product or technique ever could. While she enjoyed the sensations she was feeling, she had to admit that she had not thought of that part of her body sexually, but that was quickly changing. Which in turn were overcome by the sensations of the douching and her Lord's touch between her legs.

She could feel the levitation charm keeping her upright as her knees were weak from the pleasure of her Lord's touch upon her body. A moan of quasi-pain almost escaped her throat when she could no longer feel his touch. She opened her eyes to see that he had stepped away from her. She watched as he quickly washed his body with the potions, giving his skin an oily-shine and a hint of a sexy-tan look. Her eyes were riveted to his read-end as he bent over the bag to pull a couple of items out.

She was disappointed when he don a grey robe covering up his handsome body that she so enjoyed touching and tasting. She noted that he had a bundle of white cloth in his hands as he turned around and walked back towards her.

Harry pulled the white ritual robe open that he had Dobby get, and placed it over Hermione's body. Ritual robes, traditionally white, were a special type of robe within the Wizarding World. They were worn only for Rituals as both protection for the user and a _warning_ for others not to interfere. The protections within the Ritual Robe were woven into the fabric of the robe, becoming a part of the robe itself. Unless one knew how to look or how to feel for it, the embedded magic as part of the fabric would be undetectable, and more importantly, would not interfere with any other magic, such as the Ritual-magic they would about to invoke.

He had only learned of the Ritual Robes when he had looked up the Magical Theories. Magic could be added on top of something, mixed into something after they have been made, or could be completely absorbed into something as it was made. Most Hogwarts Student Robes were just regular robes that had charms added to them. Ritual Robes, on the other hand, were created with blessings and protective wards woven into the very fabric of the material. Thus, creating Ritual Robes were created by Enchanters, while regular robes could be made by anyone that had some cloth and knew some sewing charms. Hence, one Ritual Robe could be worth more than twenty Hogwarts Student Robes. To be fair, Ritual Robes were meant to be used multiple times throughout the wearer's life, while a Hogwarts Student Robe only had to survive a couple of months.

He placed a rope-belt around her waist to hold the robe closed. He looked her over, smiled and started walking out of the Gryffindor dorm into the school proper.

Silently, Hermione followed him. She wanted to ask where they were going, but she obeyed her Lord to be silent. She did notice her reflection in a mirror on the way out of the dorm. She felt she looked like a porn actress from one of her father's video collection. The Ritual Robe seemed to be painted unto her, highlighting her curves and attributes. Of course, knowing she was off to have sex with her Lord did color her perception. That and the Ritual Robes only covered an inch or two of her thighs.

She was reminded of her favorite porn from among her father's stash which was entitled _Teacher's Pet_. In it, _Mistress Teacher_ presented _boy_ to the school wearing nothing but a collar and a leash. Since then, she had fantasized that her Master would do something similar for her. These part weeks she dreamed of her Lord's collar around her neck, Him hold the leash, her wearing high-heels and being the object of envy from every witch and desire from every wizard.

She followed her Lord blindly down halls heading away from the major traffic areas and the Great Hall. She thought she saw some students, who were heading for breakfast, might have spotted them, but at this point, she could not say that she cared if they did. She did note that they seem to be moving deeper into the Castle than she had ever gone before, or knew was possible. They had to be somewhere passed the Charm and Defense corridors, on a floor she was not familiar with or realized that existed before. The sounds of the Castle grew quieter as they went.

Her Lord beckoned her to enter a room mid-way down a dim-light hallway that gave the impression of being abandoned, although it was as clean and tidy as the rest of Hogwarts.

The room they entered was simple and unadorned. One side-wall had six hooks that were obvious meant to hang clothes up with, and six cabinets to store that which could not be hung up, such as shoes. There was only two other items in the room with them: a room on the far-wall, and a cabinet-box in the corner of the near-wall.

Once she was in, Harry closed the door, moved over to the cabinet, opened it, and placed both his and her wands into slots that were designed to hold wands in a vertical manner, wand-tips down.

He then processed to remove his clothes, and silently gestured for Hermione to do the same. Afterwards, he stepped before and in a soft voice said, "Rituals tend to be very powerful magic, and have been known to affect things even before they are performed. They also tend to be very exacting and highly volatile to the littlest details."

He saw that she was getting nervous, so he caresses her cheek softly and continued, "We'll be okay, my Hermione. We've studied all we can and if you're in doubt, just follow my lead. I did several rituals during the summer."

Her being was flushed with pleasure and curiosity. She really, really wanted to ask about how he knew of the room they were in and what other rituals he had done besides the two he had already mentioned. But she kept silent, for now.

Harry took off his robe and placed it upon one of hooks. He pulled an item out of the bag and then stored the bag into the cabinet underneath. He then turned to her and gestured for her to unrobed as well. Once she did, he took her hand and led her through the other door.

Although, she could not tell, Harry was nervous.

Somehow, he knew of parts of Hogwarts that he knew that he did not know before this morning. How he knew of the Ritual-Magic corridor, he could not say. Yet, so far, all his knowledge seems to be correct.

He led her into the actual Ritual Room.

He was not surprise to note that the room was bare of any furniture of any kind. The room was covered, or made, completely out of stone. No other material was visible within the room. It seemed devoid of anything else. If one looked closely however, one could see the entire walls, ceiling, and floor were covered in runes and markings. The markings were just indicators where one should stand, sit, or lay within the room, unlike the runes which were magic foci. He could see various runes were already softly glowing. The room was well-lit, but no obvious source of light was found.

He could feel the magic that was in the room. Magic that had left over from countless rituals as well as the various magic-residues that remained from a millennium of spell-casting within the walls of Hogwarts.

He noticed that there was a large Seal of Solomon, two overlapping triangles pointed in opposite directions, forming a six-pointed star, inscribed within a circle, was upon the floor. There were markers within and without the Seal, as well as other geometric shapes and runes around and outside of the Seal. There were additional markers outside of the Seal as well.

He released Hermione's hand and walked to the center of the room to place the item he had with him down. The item upon contact with the center rune enlarged into a mattress. It was large enough for the two of them to lie on.

He went back to her, took both her hands in his, looked into her eyes, and intoned, "Hermione, are you sure about this? This is the last chance you have to stop this. Once we start..."

Whispering, Hermione intoned, "However my Lord will have this one, and she will be pleasing to her Lord."

He looked at her, a bit confused. It sounded like it was a part of the ritual, but not in any of the material they had covered. He gently guided her to the mattress and laid her down. He processed to caress her nude body, relaxing and arousing her.

He absently noted that his hands where moving on their own, tracing out runes that also seemed to be stroking her arousal. As he entered her body with his fleshy-wand, he could feel a bit of his magic entering her as well.

Hermione could not help screaming out her pleasure as she felt her Lord enter her, physically, magically, and mentally. She could feel her magic-core expanding to adjust to her Lord just as her body was. She could feel her mind being enveloped by her Lord's will. Her Lord was like a hurricane. Even if any other thought occurred to her, all she could do was open herself and accept him.

Harry looked down upon her and knew he should have been worried. Her eyes had rolled back in her head and droll was escaping her mouth. Her body was limp as a wet-noodle. Something told him that she was okay and that this was to be expected. What that something was, he did not know, but felt he could trust the knowledge.

He pulled his fleshy-wand out of her body, and placed his hand, palm up, near and under her fleshy-wand-sheath. He casted a spell to gather the various body fluids in a sphere where it all mixed together. He examined the sphere, noting its size, and casted a spell to double the liquid amount. He set the sphere to hover out of the way for a moment.

He casted a hover charm over Hermione's limp body lifting her off the mattress into the air. The mattress he levitate to the side of the room, where is shrank to the size of a pack of playing cards. He placed Hermione, in a standing position, over the center of the Seal. He used the liquid from the sphere to draw various runes upon her body in various places upon her body.

She awoke to the feeling of sandpaper being scrap over her sensitive witch-hood. Yet, all she could see were Harry's fingertips traced it out. Neither spoke as he continued to draw more runes over her body. Some of the runes were pleasant while others were painful. In either cast, knowing her reaction ahead of time, he adjusted for her movements and reactions as not to stop his rune-drawing.

Once done, he stepped back, observed his rune-drawings and nodded his head.

He walked over to the North position at the top of the Seal, stood up straight, and looked directly at his best friend making sure she was okay. He gathered his magic and intoned the start of the Heritage Ritual, "Who comes?" Although their research had said those two words were all that was needed, he found himself forced to add, "Before the House of Potter?"

"A servant and a slave, Master," she ritually replied. "I, Hermione, first of my line, wish to serve and protect Magic, seek to establish my own House. I, born Hermione Jane Granger, to wish to build the House Granger."

He felt the built-up of magic, and felt it settle into Hermione. According to their research that should have been the end of the ritual when her identifying herself to Magic. What Family Magic they gave birth to, they would not know until it manifests itself when her grandchildren came of Age.

Instead, he felt the magic within the Ritual build again, this time centered upon himself.

Darkness seemed to consume him. He could not see anything. But he could still feel... and all he felt was magic. He was surrounded and consumed by magic. It was not truly darkness, the absence of light, but rather the absence of color and difference. Everything was magic. There was nothing else.

In the distance, he could make out what looked like stars.

Somehow, he was able to move towards those stars, realizing that they were in fact points of concentrated magic. Each point of light was unique with different shades and hues. Among each point, there were various threads connecting them together. Each thread was a blend of color of the points of light that it connected with. It was like a multi-hue spider's web. Majestic and awesome to behold.

One of the points of light seemed to call to him. It was pulling upon his very being. He felt himself being drawn into it. The point of light seemed to examine him, somehow. After what felt like an eternity, he felt himself enter the point of light and had a feeling of acceptance. With a start he realized that the point of light he had _entered_ was a representation of his Family Magic, which he was now fully apart of.

He knew that his knowledge of what to do today had come from his Family Magic, assisting his in his duties to help his vassal. He felt connected with his parents and ancestors. He examined the threads that seem to run from his Family Magic point to many other points.

Each thread was the representation of the magical bonds between his family and others. He was surprised to feel various beings at the other end of several threads. Only a few he knew and understood why there might be a bond between himself and the others. Arthur and Ginny Weasley were obvious. Life debts. Hermione, his vassal. The Potter House-Elves, Dobby, and Winky, were also obvious, save the number of Potter House-Elves there were. But there were many, many more. Amelia and Susan Bones, he knew who they were, but not why there was a bond between them. He could also feel others like that were obviously the apart of House Black, but unsure why Sirius's family would be connected to his own. He could feel where Sirius's dim star in the tapestry of Magic was, and could feel several connects to him, more than could be explained by Sirius being his godfather.

The thread did not just include beings, but places as well. He could feel a connection with Hogwarts, Godric's Hollow, Grimmauld Place, Privet Drive, and many, many other places.

And yet there were still other threads. He could not understand to what they connected to, as it was neither people nor places, but something else. The closest he could identify the connections was that they were concepts, principles, rules, and magical contracts that the House Potter was bound to.

All three types of bonds were of various strengths. Some were strong while others were flimsy. All of them he touched and wondered what they were about. Some of the threads, he could feel surprise and acceptance from. Some seemed to dissolve upon his touch while others strengthen. Some, he could feel surprise and curiosity. Others, puzzlement at his surprise. Others, he could feel where Ministry Rules, which those he agreed with, he strengthen, and those that he disagreed with dissolved.

He also noticed that there were no points of light above him, and only a few on his horizon, and the rest below him. He did not think that it was a hierarchical reason for it, but somehow related to magical-buoyancy.

He did not know how much time he had spent within the tapestry, but knew that he needed to _return_ to Hermione.

Slowly, he could see the Ritual Room once more, and he noticed that Hermione was lying unconscious upon the floor. He also realized that he, himself, was on the floor as well. He got up and picked Hermione's nude form off the floor and walked into the antechamber. Using magic, he gathered the mattress, their Hogwarts student robes out of the bag, walked over to the cabinet to remove their wands, and cradled her in his arms and started towards the Hospital Wing.


	4. Chapter 4

Bonds of Magic  
Part 04  
#include std_disclaimer/alternate_universe  
#include std_disclaimer/harry_potter  
Version: 2010_06_28_01  
Beta-Reader: None.  
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Surprisingly, Harry Potter did not encounter anyone in the hallways on his way to the Hospital Wing as he carried Hermione Granger in his arms. He called for Madame Pomfrey as he entered, continued over to the nearest bed and placed Hermione down upon it before she came over.

The very first thing out of Madame Pomfrey's mouth upon seeing him was "Are you alright?" She knew that he did not like her domain as many repeat-patients tended to do. She immediately began to cast diagnostic spells and visually check him for signs of illness or injury.

"I'm fine," was his quick reply. "Hermione is the one that needs to be looked at."

Once the patient was identified, Madam Pomfrey started to cast various diagnostic charms over Hermione's entire body seeing what was wrong with her.

Taking a deep breath to calm and center himself, Harry added, "Hermione had asked me to _open_ her and help her with her Heritage Ritual. I did and her magic core has expanded."

She paused and smiled upon hearing that he had _opened_ Miss Granger. She then focused solely upon Hermione's magic core. Upon hearing about Hermione performing a Heritage Ritual, she blurred out, "But she's Muggle-born!" She stopped her examination and fully looks at Harry.

With a grin, he replied as if stating the obvious, "Family Magic has to start somewhere."

The School Healer stared at him for a moment as if looking for something within him. She smiled and nodded her head in agreement. She commented, "You are correct, Mister Potter. It would seem that Madam Granger's core is about twice the size from what I recall it being. Regardless of the actual size, her body and magic will need several days to adjust, and with your help, a few days to learn how to cast her new magic."

Harry nodded his head in understanding. He expected such a diagnosis.

"Just need to inform Minnie," Madam Pomfrey stated. She waved her wand towards her office door, from which a form came floating out. A quick glance and a wave of the wand was all that was needed to complete the form. Harry noted that the form was standardized as any form that is used regularly and often. The form's language seemed a bit archaic, which meant it had been in use for a long time.

Madam Pomfrey called a House-elf, whom she instructed to deliver the letter to Professor McGonagall which answered who /_Minnie_/ was.

Before the House-elf could go, Harry added, "Please, have Professor McGonagall notarize the form and then take it to Gringotts to be properly filed."

The House-elf nodded its head and popped away.

Madam Pomfrey smiled at Harry's consideration and attention to follow through. /_A very good sign_,/ she thought.

He was a bit at a loss as to what he should do now. He knew that Hermione would be okay in the Hospital Wing, and if he stayed, he would just be in the way. But he did not want to return to his dorm alone. Something he had not been for the past couple of weeks. He had come to enjoy Hermione's almost constant presence.

While he tried to think of what he could do, Madame Pomfrey remarked with a smile and a touch of pride in her voice, "You did a marvelous thing, _opening_ up Madam Granger, Mister Potter."

He looked at her, a bit surprised that she was commenting on his actions. Let alone that her comment was positive. Many adults seem to be against him taking a more active role in his own life.

"Don't let anyone tell you differently," she remarked sternly. "There really is a world of difference between a closed-witch and an open one. From personal experience, I can tell you that Madam Granger will remember you for this, until her dying days. A Witch never forgets the Wizard that _opened_ her. Why, I still recall my time with your Grandfather after all these years." She blushed a bit and commented with a touch of pride, "Of course, your Grandfather was a professional."

"Professional?" Harry asked, confusion was clearly seen upon his face and heard in his voice. She could not mean that his Grandfather, whom he did not even know his name, was a Professional _Opener_, did she? And even if she was, how could one make a profession out of _opening_? Was his grandfather something of a gigolo that Aunt Petunia would rant about?

"Admittedly, I'm biased, but I do believe he was the best _Opener_ in the World," Madame Pomfrey answered in an off-handed manner, as if it was common knowledge. It might have been, he thought, as his summer theory that he was being deliberately kept in the dark about a lot of the Wizarding World seems to be bearing out this school year.

He could only stare at the School Healer in wonder, and realizing that something else had been hidden from him. He did not even know where his grandparents lived, when, and how they passed on, or much of anything about his family, his past or lore.

Madame Pomfrey stated, "It's a shame how the Ministry has made a mockery of the _Opening_ Ritual, and how poorly and misunderstood the Muggle-born and Muggle-raised look upon it. I've heard how the Muggle-born talk about it." She sighed and continued, "Where they come up with such nonsensical ideas is beyond me. Professional _Openers_ are more like a Ritual Master, Healer, and Match-Maker all rolled into one."

A bit startled at this new knowledge, Harry inquired, "Madam Pomfrey, what you do mean about the Ministry making a mockery of the _Opening_ Ritual?"

Madam Pomfrey motioned for him to follow her, led him into her office, and gestured to a chair. He sat, while she got two glasses and poured out a liquid into them. She gestured for him to take one, and began to sip the other.

The drink tasted a bit fruity, refreshing, and warmed his throat as it went down. It was quite a pleasant drink. He wondered a bit why he had not been offered or seen such a drink before. He waited for her to compose her thoughts.

With a bit of a far-away look, in a soft voice, she started, "You have to understand, Mister Potter, the Ministry... the Wizarding World itself, is comprised of many, many different factions, some of which were as old as our history, while others are brand new."

He interjected, "I have come to realize that. While the Headmaster would like me and others to believe there are only the Light and Dark _factions_, of which are headed by himself and Riddle, I have seen there are several others involved. Although, it was only within the past year that I am beginning to see how other factions have as much, if not more, influence within our world."

She smiled as she realized she had one less thing to worry about. She continued, "Even as something as obvious as a Witch's _Opening_ is a subject of debate among the Wizengamot and the Ministry. There is actually a faction that believes, of all things, that a witch's core isn't _close_ but _stable_. And the _Opening_ Ritual destabilizes it, as well as bonding a witch to a wizard unnecessarily. That faction is a newer one, and a minor one, with other crazy ideas that fortunately no one listens to. But such factions have popped up from time to time."

"But how," Harry began. His and Hermione's research clearly showed that such a belief was wrong and even harmful.

"There is always someone out there that thinks the worst, and will believe anything," Madam Pomfrey replied. "Several other factions, especially those that have been highly placed within the Ministry, believe that any wizard can _open_ a witch. This mistaken belief is very popular, unfortunately, which is where all the confusion and misunderstandings comes from."

"What misunderstandings?" he asked in curiosity.

"What it means to be _open_," was her reply. "There are several witches out there that think they are _opened_, when they aren't. They are fooled by greedy wizards and there are also many that are _opened_ but did not get much out of it which sours them to other witches being _opened_ as well. It comes back to the mistaken idea that any wizard can do it."

"And most can't?" Harry inquired in curiosity. Their research basically had just suggested that any wizard that was more powerful than the witch needing to be _opened_ could do it.

"It's not a matter of power-levels," Madam Pomfrey explained. "Which is part of the misconception, although, the more powerful the wizard is, does help the ritual. It takes skills and understanding as well. One has to take all the usual ritual variables that are involved, as this is a ritual after all. The sex-action is just a medium for performing the ritual. If it was just about power, the Headmaster would be able to do it, seeing how he's in the top five wizards in all of Europe. And yet, his two attempts were disasters."

"Disasters?" he echoed in surprise. He could not conceive how such a simple ritual could go wrong, or what the consequences could be. It was one of the reasons why he had agreed to Hermione's plan, as he had thought there would not be any negative consequences if anything went wrong.

"Physically, nothing bad happened," she remarked. Although, she had to add, "I think." After some thought, she continued, "None would speak about what actually happened. But neither witch was _opened_, and neither witch had much to do with any wizard afterwards. I think both went on to join a coven somewhere out in Asia that accepts witches-only covens."

"You can tell?" Harry asked. Clarifying he added, "If a witch is _open_ or not?"

"It's a skill that any wizard or any _opened_ witch can learn," she replied. "Once you know the difference, it is quite obvious and a required skill for a Healer. And to answer your next question, within Europe, it is illegally for a coven to be compromised solely of a single gender. Although, it's _acceptable_ if there is only one member of the opposite gender from the majority."

That was news to him. Out of curiosity he asked, "What happens if a single gender coven is found?"

Madam Pomfrey thought a moment and answered, "Well, it depends a bit on how large the coven is and which gender is involved. If it's an all-wizard coven, then all the convicted wizards receive the Dementors's Kiss. A convicted all-witches coven is given a year's sentence in Azkaban. While not part of the formal sentencing, those witches will find themselves in a marriage contract made by their Heads of Houses.

"But getting back to the _Opening_ Ritual, there are four types of _Openers_: those that work on their own, those that work for the Ministry, those that work for the large covens, and those that work for a House. Who the _Opener_ works for makes a difference for the witch and for the ritual itself. Only Lords can _open_ on their own. The others need something more, what that something is, I don't know. Another difference is that those working for Houses and covens will have their witches bound to the House or coven itself, while those working on their own and the Ministry is more personal bonds. One group doesn't exclude any other, in that; an Opener can work for the Ministry, a Coven, and a House, at the same time, if they wished. They just use the appropriate ritual version for the task at hand."

She took a sip of her drink and continued, "The Ministry for the past fifty years or so has been of the belief that any wizard of distinction, namely a pure-blood with a lot of money, can _open_ any witch. Thus, most Ministry _Openers_ aren't. Yet, they use potions and misinformation to fool a witch into thinking she's _opened_, when she's not. Sadly, many witches have fallen for it. Even the few witches they do somehow _open_ get very little out of it, making them regret having done so."

"Regret?" Harry wondered out-loud. From Hermione's enthusiasm, research, and arguments that she made to him to _open_ her, he could not see how any witch would not want to be _opened_. The benefits should easily outweigh any discomfort having to deal with some old geezer. It was a virtual free power boost, practically doubling a witch's magic-core without any consequences or much work on the witch's part that no other ritual could match. Not to mention the ability to sense/see magic itself, which a _closed_ witch could not. And on top of all that, it allowed a witch to join a House, Coven or a Lord's domain that she was not born in. He could not see any downside for a witch to be _open_.

A sad smile appeared on her face as she answered, "The Ministry _Openers_ are just using it as an excuse to have sex with as many witches as they can get away with. As well as trying to increase the Ministry's influence into areas they have no business even contemplating about."

Harry nodded. It was the same as in the Muggle world. In his summer research he discovered that the charter for the Ministry for Magic clearly stated that its solo purpose was to act as a liaison office **within** the Muggle Government to coordinate the Statue of Secrecy between the two worlds. Despite what many in the Wizarding World thought, and the Ministry itself wanted others to think, the Ministry was not the ruling body within the Wizarding World. In fact, the Ministry for Magic had no legal or magical standing within the Wizarding World. But like any bureaucracy in any world, those that wished to, found ways to expand their power bases into areas they had no true reason to be in.

At his prompting, Madam Pomfrey talked a bit about his grandfather, Charlus Potter. She told him several stories of his kindness in helping those that could not help themselves, of his generosity in aiding various new and struggling businesses, of his protectiveness of those that followed him.

She glanced at a clock that was resting upon the wall and noticed the time, "Its almost curfew, my dear. You'll need to head back to your dorm, Mister Potter."

Reluctantly, Harry nodded his head in agreement.

She took out her wand, waved it, and several books floated onto her desk resting before him. She remarked, "These books will help you, Mister Potter. They will help you a great deal in dealing with Madam Granger. I can't emphasize enough how important it is that you read them from cover to cover."

He took them without looking and headed out. He did stop a bit to check upon Hermione once more. He did not seeing any change in her condition so he headed out.

She smiled at Harry's departing form and said to herself, "I've done what I could, My Lord. Those books his mother wrote will help both of them, and get around the Headmaster's foolish ban. There will be heart-ache either way. Better to know the truth, then wonder." She sighed, "You would be proud of your grandson, Charlus." With that she headed to her bed chambers.

* * *

It felt strange to be in bed without Hermione there with him. It had only been a couple weeks or so, and yet, her absence was keenly felt. He found that he was not ready to go to sleep. Recalling Madam Pomfrey's words, he finally took a look at the books that she gave him. There were three in all. All of them were as thick as his textbooks. This, in the Wizarding World, did not mean much. He could only stare as he read the titles: So You're a Witch, A Muggle-Born Witch's Guide to the Wizarding World, and Care and Maintenance of a Witch.

All there had _Lily Potter_ listed as the author/editor.

His mother had worked on these books.

His mother.

She that gave birth to him and died for him.

And all he knew of her was her name, her wand was good for charms, and he had her eyes. Oh, he heard a bit about his father from Sirius, Dumbledore, and Snape, but no one talked about his mother.

Now eager to little a bit about his mother through her own words and to help Hermione, he began to read. He started with Care of Maintenance of a Witch; as such a title is what he needed.

He was not sure what he was expecting from the book, but he found it to be a _tongue-in-cheek_ book meant for the Muggle parents of a witch and those that would have to live with her throughout her life.

He had always imagined his mother being like Hermione, and yet, the wording and style were closer to his own. He noted that he shared his mother's sense of humor that he found in her words and phrasing.

He did appreciate that the information was neither dry nor repetitive. The information contained within the book was a treasure-trove. Glimpses of his mother's life, which were used as examples, and what it meant to live with a witch. The book did seem to imply that there was a wizard-version available as well. One that he will need to look for, among the many others he was already looking for.

The other two books had been updated by his mother, who seemed to have written several books to assist other first-generation magic-users adapt to the Wizarding World and several books for any magic-user, of any heritage, on the subjects of Potions, Charms, and Runes, tying them into the magical art of enchantment. He made a note of all the titles of the books his mother wrote, and other books that were quoted for further study.

He did find that he could not put the books down, as they were very well written and entertaining, although the sections on witch's hygiene where a bit horrifying and made him glad he wasn't born a girl. Those three books did tell him more about witches that he wanted to know, but he did need to know.

It was one thing to suspect that his introduction to the Wizarding World was not normal. The books had mentioned the assistance that those Muggle-raised, be they first-generation or mixed-heritage, should have been made available to them. Even if by chance his aunt was actually a Squib instead of a Muggle, would not have changed the various regulations and procedures that should have been involved in his upbringing. He still should have been made aware them, by Hagrid, Professor McGonagall, Headmaster Dumbledore, or any other Hogwarts Staff member.

He went over all three of the books, taking notes of the various gems of information that he felt were important, and others that he did not understand and would need to do more research on.

He felt the dawn's morning light upon him and realized that he had spent the entire night reading and note-taking. But he felt it was worth it.

* * *

Magical portals were not unknown in Magical Britain, but extremely rarely. Their making was known only to the Enchanters of Old, and not shared with anyone. Many in the Department of Mysteries had several centuries trying to recover their secrets.

What was known was very little; the portals could not be forced nor damaged by wand-magic. They did not have any magical signature that could be detected by the Ministry. And all found portals, which fell under the prevue of the Department of Mysteries, led to wonderful and powerful places.

One such place held many names over the millennia; some of which were: "Hall of Remembrance", "Hall of Memories", "Room of the Word", and "Room of Records".

Its location was unplottable and unknown. No one could apparition or portkey in or out of the place, thus the only way in or out was through a magical portal, which was guarded at all times by two Unspeakables and two Aurors.

/_Guarding_/ the Hall of Records was considered one of the most easiest and honorable jobs within either department as by ancient law fighting of any sort near the Hall was not only forbidden but prevented by Magic itself. In the entire records of Magical Britain, only two Dark Queens ever attempted to assault the Hall of Records, or tried to injure their rival near it. Both have seen been used as examples of one trying to break a Magical Law.

Added to all that, very few could enter the Hall of Records, and even those that could, could only do so on the Solstices even on the Solstices they could only move around the first ten meters within the room, where various instruments were established to record all the various magical scrolls and records that were created and stored there for those that could not gain entrance to the Hall.

For knowledge was power.

For within the Hall of Records, anything and everything magical was written down, no matter how small. From the first to last spell of Merlin, his apprenticeship agreement, his marriage contract, and his last testament were all recorded within that Hall. As were Merlin's teachers, their teacher's, their teacher's teachers, going back so far, none knew.

And those in the Ministry did not know for sure what was recorded anymore or not. As it had been several centuries since anyone, since the very first Ministress herself, entered the Hall to establish the Ministry recording devices. These devices only records magical contracts, magical births, and magical marriages, which were copies, were made at Hogwarts, the Ministry, and at Gringotts.

It was a cushy and quiet assignment.

Thus, when all the alarms blared and bolts of magic coming out of the Hall started, it was understandable how seasoned Unspeakables and Aurors panicked like Hogwarts first years faced with their first Potion class.

These were soon followed by various alarms blaring within all departments of the Ministry and throughout Gringotts. Within Hogwarts, various suits of armor shifted positions from lazy poses to at-attention readiness. The very magic of these places seems to spring to life, not that any noticed in the confusion of the alarms.


	5. Chapter 5

Bonds of Magic  
Part 05  
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Harry Potter had so many emotions running through him that without his mediation techniques that he learned over the summer his magic would be out of control. Instead, his will kept his magic tightly bound within him as he went about his normal morning routine. In doing so, his magic leaked out making his eyes grow and his movements faster. Not that he noticed. His mind was elsewhere and he was just going through his morning routine on automatic.

His morning routine included basic biological necessities, personal hygiene, and receiving a report from Winky about the status of various correspondences he had with several people he had begun during the summer. Winky would also report on the status of his various purchases. He did briefly wonder about his account. His letters to Gringotts Wizarding Bank had remained thus far unanswered, and yet, he had been able to purchase all the additional books that he needed. Which were admittedly few, as Sirius had went all out in trying to get him prepared for what they knew was coming. He had only ventured forth a few times into areas that his correspondences suggested, which were a way from Dagon Alley and Voldemort/Dumbledore's watching eyes, so he had not had a chance to visit the Goblins in-person to see why they were being so silent with him. Especially now, from his mother's books he now knew he should have been receiving bank statements from them since he was eleven. Of course, those books poked several holes in Dumbledore's so-called protection that he had at the Durleys as well.

Fortunately given his state of mind, none of his correspondences required any immediate responses that day. He had started those correspondences simply out of curiosity and had gotten great dividends back.

After finishing up and presentable, he headed for the Great Hall for breakfast. Still the information contained within those three books kept lurching through his mind. With his first and second read-through, the books had not been so bad, but once he had time to truly digest their knowledge, his emotions went through several roller coaster as he was went through the books numerous times.

He had enjoyed the various anecdotes of his mother's life. They covered such events as her first accidental magic outburst all the way to her pregnancy with him. Included in there was his mother's first dealing with puberty and various other female hygiene issues that he really wished to remain ignorant of but would need to talk more with Madam Pomfrey and Hermione to better help Hermione deal with them. He had noted that his mother had implied and Hermione had already stated that those charms that were created to help witches with their hygiene and _witch'ly problems_ had better results when casted by the wizard in their lives than by the witches themselves. Which if he was reading between lines correctly implied that his parents had actually gotten together much earlier than the middle of their seventh year as had been reported to him by Dumbledore, Sirius, and Lupin.

While the books focused primarily upon what it meant to be a witch and what unique situations that only a witch would face, there were several chapters worth of information about the Wizarding World and its ways. Certain key transitional information about moving from the Muggle World into the Wizarding World was also provided. There were entire chapters containing basic magical theory, wand-care, wand-bonding, mediation, magic exercises, tips and tricks to dealing with various magical transportation methods, and several suggestions and recommendations on searching more information on various subjects.

He had to wonder why no one had figured out that he did not know any of this before this summer; it was required material to know prior to attending Hogwarts. Given his results over the summer, he knew he could have done so much better in all his classes had he knew what he should have then. Until this summer, he had been basically just using brute force to get by in all his classes when a bit of style and skill would have gotten him further.

The new knowledge did explain why Astrology was so important to the Wizarding World and a lot about Potion class. The phases of the Moon, positioning of the stars and planets, and other such astrological events had effects upon magic in various degrees. For the stuff taught at the OWL-level, such affects were minor and negligible, but _higher_ level magic such things had to be taken into consideration. As for Potion class, the basic theory was simple and had much in common with cooking. You started with one or more raw ingredients which you then prepared according to the desired final result. Each state of the ingredient is it solid, liquid or gaseous provided a different effect within the potion. Heating and cooling the ingredients had their own effects as well. It was the most straight-forwards of the Magical Arts and the easiest to understand. Basic Potion safety was also straight-forward and similar to cooking.

Hence why Snape could get away with just putting instructions upon the board instead of actually teaching it, simply put, there was nothing more to teach but to gain experience from making the potions themselves. Yes, he was git that did not explain what a student did wrong, why it was wrong, nor he make sure proper safety precautions were followed. But all that information was already provided to the student, Snape could _justify_ himself by saying that if a student was too lazy to perform the basics...

He had survived Potion Class merely through observation and common sense, but he had missed out several points of the class exercises simply because he was ignorant of them. He had blindly followed everyone else's lead, not knowing there were actual reasons and information to be gained from them.

There were also several magical exercises for students to practice getting in touch with their magic to help them. These exercises which himself only started to perform during the summer, finding them on his own. The books contained exercises for getting in touch with one's magic, handling emotions, and mediation which would have helped him with Snape so-called Occlumency lessons; at least, he would have given him an actual foundation to work from.

No one told him of the wand-bonding rituals that the books encouraged every witch to perform as soon as they could. Of course, those wand-bonding rituals involved a witch getting very intimate with her wand as only a witch could. Which made him curious as to what wand-bonding rituals wizards had? Not that he recalled ever heard of such among his dorm-mates.

At least, he did not think so. It did make several conversations he had in the past take on different meanings. He also wondered if he knew what he should have known before starting to Hogwarts, like everyone else had, he would have had an easier time in using his magic instead of all the brute-force method he had been using until this summer.

So many of his summer discoveries were nothing more than re-discovering what everyone else already known since before Hogwarts. Well, at least, they seem to help him a lot. No use dwelling on what have been.

The magical transportation tricks he could understand a bit as those did not come up much, although, it seem to point to Weasleys having a not-so-nice sense of humor.

He realized that he had finally arrived at the Great Hall and noticed that it was still early so there were only a handful of students currently present. Most of those present were the early-riser crowd, who consisted mostly of Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. Surprisedly to him, there were also a handful of Slytherin witches present, whom he did not know, although assumed were a year above him or below him.

He was the solo Gryffindor present. No backup, and yet, that did not bother him. Nor did he feel threaten from any those present, which was a first. Although, he did notice that several of the witches were eyeing him much like how Ron would look towards the Welcoming Feast itself. That did make him a bit uncomfortable. He kept his wand ready, just to be safe.

Still, he observed that the place settings were out but there was no food on any of the tables. He also realized that he was not aware of this year's seating arrangements as they tended to shift each year. He had thought the sitting was simply "_first-come, first-seated_." In actuality, the seating at the House Tables was a reflection of the pecking order within the House itself, establishing a student's importance based upon magical power, wealth, family and social standing.

The House Table was divided into seven sections, one for each year, where the First-Years were the closest to the Head Table, and the Seventh-Years furthest from the teachers' views. Within each section, those of greater political, social, or financial standings would sit further from the teachers within their section. Those of greater standing could sit with the other years. At the Welcoming Feast, an exception was made for the newly First-Years to sit near the Fifth-Year Perfects to show them the way to their House.

Harry did not know about this as being was the last Potter and the Boy-Who-Lived made him practically royalty within Magical Britain. As such, he could sit where ever he wished and others would take their clue from him. Thus, when others saw him just sitting with his class-mates in the lower years, many saw this as him being humble, while others saw this action as willful defiance of tradition. These people would pointed out that he was friends with the Weasleys, a family of known for its disdain of tradition and followers of the newcomer Professor Dumbledore, who also disdain many traditions that were thousands of years old. None of the others ever thought Harry did what he did out of ignorance, as such was inconceivable to them. It was just easier to blame blamed the Weasleys for his lacking of following the traditions.

So when he went to sit at the head of the table out of a desire to not to take anyone's spot and to avoid causing any problems with others, those already in the Great Hall, and those that would come later, merely felt he was finally taken his proper place among them.

Before he could conjure a chair, an ornate chair appeared at the head of the table as if it had always been waiting for him to claim it, which it was. The chair looked regal and very comfortable, much like Dumbledore's head-chair but not as gaudy, he felt. In addition to the chair, an ornate place setting appeared with along with it. Unlike the other plates upon the table, this one was filled with his favorite breakfast foods and his goblet was filled with a fruit drink that Dobby had introduced to him over the summer.

As he stated to eat, he noted that the Slytherin witches were paying more attention to him now although they were trying to be covert about their observations. The Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws were watching him as well as but they were not as subtle about it.

He did not understand why so many were interested in him or what the latest gossip about him was, nor did he care. So with practice of the past five years, he just ignored them and concentrated upon his breakfast.

His magical senses did tell him when Luna Lovegood entered the Great Hall. He knew somehow that she would avoid those students already seated, sit by herself alone, and as close to the teachers as she could. Knowing that and wanting to catch up with his friend, he called out to her, "Luna, sit with me."

His voice carried throughout the Great Hall. Even though he had not used a loud voice, it still easily cut through the noise of the Great Hall and was heard and felt by all. He had meant his words to be a polite request and yet they had come out as a command.

He had been giving out several commands these past couple of weeks in his dealing with Hermione. He had come to realize that she wanted, even needed, an authority figures in her life for her to be happy. And that she wanted **him** to be that authority figure for her. So he had become more and more authoritatively in his dealings with her, which made her happy. And apparently, it was now _spilling_ over onto others. Still he did not see any indication that Luna was offended, if anything, he could see a genuine smile upon her face.

Luna had no problem with his order. Whether acknowledged or not, every society, any group of people, had its hierarchy. Hogwarts was no different. There was a pecking order among the students within a House, as well as an order for the over-all school itself. Even as a First-Year, Harry had been at the top of either order. That he never acknowledged it or took up his duties his position required angered many of the students and recent-graduates. Again such was blamed upon the Weasleys, wrongfully, and upon Dumbledore, rightfully.

Luna happily walked over to him and only paused when she actually got within a foot of the Gryffindor Table, clearly unsure where to sit, as to indicate her placement within Harry's court. Harry felt Luna was being shy so he motioned with his hand for her to sit next to him on his right, next to him, which along the usual length of the table. He was ignorant of the significance of the both gesture, as he only wanted to see how his friend was and not get involved with Wizarding politics.

While Harry was ignorant, Luna was not. Never the less, she sat down next to him as she was told to do. She did look around a bit with a worrisome face. She asked, "What about Hermione?"

Luna had asked because she that everyone knew that Hermione was his right-hand witch, as Ron was his left-hand wizard, so the place closest on his right was hers.

But Harry did not know such things, so he smiled at her question. He took the question as Luna's asking after Hermione's health, instead of Luna's asking about Hermione's social standing among the students. So he simply replied with a smile, "Hermione is recovering from her Heritage Ritual in the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey assures me that she should be fully well within a couple of days."

The Great Hall fell silent. Everyone was now listening to their conversation as they were curious what was going on.

Luna could only stare at him. She, as the others, was unsure how to respond to a Muggle-born witch undergoing the Heritage Ritual. It was unheard of.

Harry took care of the matter unknowingly by saying, "After all, Family Magic has to start somewhere."

Luna just shrugged her shoulders as he had a point. Still, she was a bit nervous; Hermione was not one to cross, especially in regards to Harry Potter. As Ravenclaw she was curious and sought knowledge, so she inquired for clarification, "It's going to take two days for her to recover from her Heritage Ritual?"

"Well, actually, if you count yesterday, it would be three," he answered. He was unaware of the significance of one's recovery time after one under goes the Heritage Ritual reflected one's family power. He was equally unaware of the bombshell he was dropped by added as a mere afterthought, "She'll also need to get a new wand as well."

Wands were very important to Wizards and Witches, and represented milestones within their lives. One got their first wand, and for many their only wand, upon receiving their Hogwarts Letter. Those rare Wizards and Witches that grew in power during their seven years there might get another wand upon graduation. But usually if they got another wand at all it was either upon getting married or upon the birth of their first child.

Another somewhat common occurrence was when a witch was _opened_, but Harry was not going to share that with those present, feeling, correctly, it was a private matter.

Luna and other Pure-Bloods could only stare in astonishment, as without knowing it and especially omitting the detail about _opening_ her, Harry had just implied that Hermione was the most powerful witch attending Hogwarts, student or staff.

Harry looked at her, noticed her empty plate, frowned and remarked, "Oh, I'm sorry. You don't have something to eat. I don't wish to keep you from breakfast; they say it's the most important meal of the day."

Luna could only look surprised at Harry. It was something of a standard display of power/importance/showing off that those wizards and witches that felt themselves superior to others would do. They would invite those they felt inferior to themselves to a gathering at meal-time to discuss some issue, only the guest would not have a chance to actual eat much of anything. It was a chance for the host to show off their power, wealth, or both, and the guest to see how the other half lived. Luna, while her family was several hundred of years old, was among the lower-class of Wizarding Society. While she knew Harry considered her a _friend_, she knew she was not equal nor even in the same league as him. She fulfill intended to provide whatever help and service she could give him, whatever that might be, in exchange for his _friendship_, whatever form that it took.

While it was a bit bold on her part, the daughter of a Reporter, and an inspiring reporter herself, she had to ask, "Who are _they_?"

"Muggle researchers," he replied. "Muggles don't have magic, so they have to be very careful what they eat and drink. Muggles spend decades studying what are good and bad foods are. Anyway, what do you usually have for breakfast?"

Before she could answer, Dobby appeared, snapped his fingers, and food appeared upon Luna's plate. Harry thanked Dobby, who simply bowed and left. He laughed a bit, turned to Luna and said, "Tuck in."

She did so, although, she kept an eye on Harry as she wondered what was going on. While she did not know the details, she knew from Ginny and others that Dobby was Harry's personal House-Elf. Even those that did not know that, they noted Dobby's attitude and actions towards Harry and could reason out their relationship from that. They would be sharing it with others, that he had provided Luna her breakfast. That it was done via a House-Elf or the Hogwarts Kitchen would be immaterial to most, what would be noted was the ritual act of a Liege-Lord providing for his Vassal. With magic, symbolism was very important. Thus, Luna's standing within Hogwarts and the Wizarding World was on the rise. Not that she cared for such things. She did wonder how he got his own House-Elf passed the Hogwarts Wards, as all personal and Family House-Elves of the students were banned from Hogwarts grounds.

Harry calmly ate his breakfast ignorant what was going on around him. Still, the silence and the low whispering were not enjoyable. Seeing that Luna, for reasons he could not discern, was quiet throughout the meal, so he started to make some casual remarks about what he had discovered about the Heritage Ritual along with Hermione. He was a bit curious to see if what they had found out conformed to what a Pure-Blood would be taught at home.

Most of what he said, Luna just nodded her head in agreement. It was information that those raised in a magical family took for grant. It was only when he mentioned how much easier those that had magical parents to share such information with their children must have it, as even with Hogwarts' Library, they almost did not find all the information they needed before it was too late.

"Too late?" Luna's voice was puzzled. As far as she knew, one could perform the Heritage Ritual at any point after one's reached their magical maturity, which was usually happened upon one's seventeenth birthday.

"Yeah," he replied. "The Enchanter Tacitus, whom all the others seem to refer to, held that to get the full effects of the Heritage Ritual, one had to perform the ritual upon the moment of your seventeenth birthday. Even one moment later and you lose at least half of the potential of the ritual, and the longer you wait the greater the loss. Hell, if you don't do the ritual within a week of your seventeenth birthday, you might as well forget about it as you get so little out of it. And then add in all the activities you need to do before hand, I would guess you need to start the prep-work at least three weeks in advance to get ready in time. Fortunately, Hermione is very good at scheduling and organizing to make the most of her time."

Everyone was opening staring at him; they all felt the magic confirming his words. The Enchanter Gaius Cornelius Tacitus of Magical Rome was a legendary wizard, senator, and historian. In the days of Merlin, and after, many viewed Tacitus as the modern-day Wizards viewed Merlin. Many of Merlin's own works quoted and were based upon Tacitus's works. To quote any truly legendary wizard was a huge deal with the Wizarding World as many of their names were tied into various enchantments and wards so that Magic itself could attest to them and their works. Thus, by invoking their names intentionally, one could easily prove or disprove something as long as it was associated with them. For example, one would not be able to say aloud that Merlin was a woman as the enhancements would react negatively to such a statement in a very noticeable way. Of course, over time several people had found ways around this protection and use that knowledge for their benefit. It is said that some of the younger families, those after the Founding of Hogwarts, pretended that they too had such enchantments so they could tell others they were more than they were and would be believed by the non-informed. Books, transfigured scrolls really, by Enchanter Tacitus were more sought after than those by Merlin, and were extremely rare. Hogwarts Library was one of those known to have copies of his work outside of private family libraries.

This information surprised everyone. The Ministry held that the Heritage Ritual could be done at any time **after** the actual day of one's seventeenth birthday. Furthermore, they recommended and encouraged that one **wait** for the Spring Solstice, which was a very magical time. If that was too long of a wait or there were no available ritual rooms, then one could perform the ritual on the Autumn Solstice. For the Spring Solstice, there were numerous three-day parties and a huge number of _applicants_ to use the Ministry Ritual Rooms. Scheduling was done passed on politics and bribery.

Before the Ravenclaw within Luna could ask for more questions, a sleepy Neville Longbottom came walking towards the Gryffindor Table. He looked like he was sleep-walking, so Harry called out to him, "Neville, over here."

Neville did not hesitate or seem to acknowledge Harry, but simply headed over towards him as if he was going there along. It was only when he sat down at Harry's gesture that he noticed that Harry was sitting at the head of the table and he was sitting what was usually Ron's _spot_. He noticed that the chair that Harry was sitting in was very ornate, practically a throne and just gave his shoulders a small shrug.

Neville looked nervous as he realized that everyone in the Great Hall was watching Harry and now, himself, to various degrees. The attention made him nervous. He asked, "Harry, where's Hermione?"

"She's recovering from her Heritage Ritual, mate," was his simple reply as if it was obvious. "She'll be back in a couple of days."

Neville just nodded his head. If Harry said that Hermione, who was a Muggle-born, had undergone the Heritage Ritual, then either she had discovered she was not actual Muggle-born, or something other reason. Whatever the reason, if he needed to know, someone would tell him.

Out of habit, Harry explained, "Family Magic has to start somewhere."

Neville nodded his head in acceptance as that made sense to him. It also made sense that Hermione would need to do the Ritual now, as it would be impossible to get a reservation with the Ministry at this late point. The Ministry Ritual Rooms were backed several years in advance. Plus, the Ministry would not even consider an application from her. Many had the attitude of Family Magic just was, either you had it or not as simple as that, no more, no less.

Harry also provided Neville his breakfast via Dobby as he had done for Luna, and the three got to talking a bit. Harry repeated what he had told Luna of what he had found out about the Heritage Ritual, while Neville and Luna shared with him the various gossip going around the students.

They mentioned how much all the students enjoyed the new DADA Professor Eaglestone, although, there apparently was some friction among the staff centered around her. And the friction was not coming from Snape this time, but from Professor McGonagall and possibly Headmaster Dumbledore. Of course, Snape had his own headaches. Once word got out that Harry was taking Potions as an independent study, all the students from Gryffindor House and some from the other houses had applied to do the same. It was believed that only a handful of students remained in class, who were the children of known or suspected Death-Eaters.

They mentioned that there were several new couples among the students to which he surprised himself by making a comment or two upon each coupled mentioned. It was surprising for a couple of reasons; one he was not one to speculate on other's relationships considering his poor showing, and two, he did not know the couple in question to intelligently say anything about them. Yet, he found himself saying where they would be a good couple or not, and if they would last or not.

While Harry was puzzled by this, Luna and Neville understood this was just one of the man facets of Harry being a magical lord who was tied into the magical realm. While anyone could have sworn-followers, very few could be truly magical lords or ladies. Once in a great while, a magical lord or lady could come from one of the younger houses, but traditionally most of the magical lords and ladies came from the Ancient Houses, of which House Potter was among the oldest, hence had produced the most magical lords and ladies. So as the Last Potter, it would be safe to assume that Harry was a magical lord as well.

Luna and Neville reluctantly shared with him the various rumors going around about the amount of time Harry and Hermione had been spending together. Most of the rumors were that Hermione was helping him prepare for his fight against Voldemort. It seems the Prophet had been running several articles about the Trelawney's Prophecy, not that they knew any of the details or that she had made it but the Prophet was speculating wildly what it was about. Surprisedly, they were close, to the truth but Harry did not mention that. Still, the most interested rumor on what was happening was that Hermione was researching various sex-magic techniques and rituals in order to ensure her place with him, as many thought Hermione felt threatened by Ginny Weasley.

Harry was puzzled but such a statement, so he had to ask, "What possible reason would Hermione feel threatened by Ron's little sister?"

Neville just shrugged his shoulders not willing to voice his opinion how Ginny was a lovely girl not scary like Hermione. He knew that other students were afraid of her too, for various reasons. But Ginny was safe. Neville felt that Ginny had several things going for her; she was on the Quidditch team, she was adventurous, and had Weasley Family Magic.

The conservation winded down so they concentrated more on eating than talking. Which was good as the majority of the students came into the Great Hall then. Everyone observed Harry sitting at the head of the Gryffindor table holding court with his friends. It was noted among those in attendance that Ron Weasley was absent from Harry's group, which gave heart to some.

While Harry had ignored Draco Malfoy when he came into the Great Hall, the others did not. In fact, many were curious as to what the young Malfoy Heir would do upon seeing his rival at the head of his house's table. As expected, Draco tried to sit at the head of his table. But what Malfoy and others did not know was that the Wards of Hogwarts did a lot more than just protect the school from outside threats. Thus, Malfoy was blocked from changing the sitting arrangements at his table. Of course, few knew that, so they just assumed that Malfoy was not fully awake, was a poor student of Transfiguration, or a combination of the two. This put Malfoy in a bad light with his classmates and House-mates. After several minutes of trying, Pansy Parkinson finally had enough and pulled him down to sit with her on the regular bench. Draco for the remainder of the breakfast grumbled and pouted.

Harry did notice that Hedwig had joined the other owls that came to the Great Hall with the morning mail. Hedwig brought a copy of the Quibbler which he took from her and opened it up to read. Hedwig took a bit of bacon off his plate, hopped up to his shoulder and seemingly began to read the newspaper with him.

Neville and several Seventh-Years from both the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff Tables who could clearly see the scene could only stare at Hedwig. They knew that Post-Owls are magical creatures, hence more intelligent than their mundane counterparts in general and Post-Owls specially, but it looked to them as if Harry's Post-Owl was actually reading along side him. Many wanted to question it, but were too afraid of the answer to ask about it. Luna would saw it knew that Hedwig was more than a mere Post-Owl, but was actually Harry's familiar, and the familiar of a powerful wizard, especially one like Harry, would be enhanced beyond what was normally seen in such a creature so she was not surprised.

One Gryffindor student asked Harry, "Is that the Prophet?"

To which, Harry replied, "That rubbish? Nay, this is an actual newspaper called The Quibbler."

A murmur about the absence of the Daily Prophet went through the students, reaching the staff, who had no answers.

Someone called out, "It's not like the Prophet to be late! It's never been late in its long-life!"

"Long life?" Harry exclaimed in surprise. "Most of the staff members are older than the Daily Prophet. Not to mention the Daily Prophet has a terrible record. The Quibbler is older then the Ministry and has a much better record."

Those present felt Magic's agreement with Harry's words so now could doubt him. When it became apparent that he was not going to say anymore, everyone returned back to their own little worlds.

Soon there after, the warning bell for classes to begin rang. Ron appeared with the last of the late-risers, who only had time to make themselves some quick breakfast sandwiches and grab some food before heading to class.


	6. Chapter 6

Bonds of Magic  
Part 06  
#include std_disclaimer.h/harry_potter  
#include std_disclaimer.h/alternate_universe  
Version: 2010_06_28_01  
Beta-Reader: None.  
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* * *

As Harry Potter walked off to class with Neville Longbottom to his right and slightly behind and Ron Weasley to his left, he did not know the frenzy he had effected as various Ravenclaws and Pure-Bloods from the other three houses had descended upon the Library hunting for the books he had mentioned. Many felt, correctly, that such books would be gold-mines of information. It also occurred to several Ravenclaws that if the Ministry's information on the Heritage Ritual was wrong, then it was possible that they were wrong on other important matters as well. The few students who were Pro-Ministry went looking for contemporaries of the Enchanter Tacitus or even older works to defend the Ministry's position and refute Tacitus's work.

But Harry and his friends were unaware of the headaches unleashed upon Madam Pince, the Hogwarts Librarian, as she had to deal with all the students running amok in her queendom. She nearly had several heart-attacks as many of the students were fighting over several of some of her oldest friends, to whose defense she leapt with her wand blazing, worthy of her former Warrior-Witch days.

Harry was equally unaware of how the Magical Suits of Armor that lined the various hallways of Hogwarts stood straighter, no longer resting their weight upon their swords, but ready to be called upon for duty once more.

Harry and the rest were more interested in getting to class on time than in the nuances of the Magical Armor of the Wizard-Knights of Old. They accomplished this with a just bit of time to spare. Harry had waited for Ron, thus delaying the rest who had waited for him. Each of them took their seats and awaited Professor McGonagall.

Their wait was short and class quickly began. The class was but another continuation of reviewing the OWL-level material because there were several students, Ron included, that were having problems with the practical side of the material.

Unfortunately, Professor McGonagall had to follow the "_Ministry of Magic's Proper Guidelines for the Proper Teaching of Young Wizards and Witches in the Proper Usage of Magic, Version six thousand eight hundred fifty stroke ninety two stroke fifty-four_" which stated that the class as a whole could not move on to any _new_ material until all the students grasped the old material. It was part of Minister Millicent Bagnold's _no student left behind_ campaign promise that got her elected back in the seventies. Not that her program was any different from any previous Minister's. The only thing that had changed in the past several decades was merely the catch-phrase name for the program.

In Ron's case, it was just his laziness catching up with him. He lacked the familiarity with the magic as well as lacked a bit of confidence in his own magic. For the others, it was simply not being able to make the transition from memorizing the textbook to truly making it their own magic. OWL-Level classes could be thought of as showing a child how to stand and to take a small step forward, while NEWT-Level classes were just telling someone where they should end up and not giving them enough time to walk the distance. Many people could never figure out how to _run_ with their magic, or were satisfied with just _walking slowly_ with it, which why only about a third of those with sufficient grades continued on to their NEWTS; the rest either got an apprenticeship or joined the family business.

It was frustrating for himself, Professor McGonagall, and the rest of the class as a whole. It was not the case that those students could not do the required magic, it was simply they could not figure out how to get their magic to flow smoothly and quickly to the degree that the NEWTs required. That could only be done through practice and determination.

Once he was aware of such, Harry had only needed a few hours to get his magic flowing correctly. Most of the students in the class had also gotten it within a few of the double class periods.

He was concentrating on helping Ron with his flow, so he was a bit startled when Professor McGonagall demanded in an angry voice, "Where is Miss Granger, Mister Potter?" She seemed to have taken it as a personal affront that her favorite student was missing her class, even if it was a review-slash-preparation class.

Harry was a bit surprised by her question; his voice held a bit of his surprise as he stated, "Madam Pomfrey sent you the form about what happened." He really did not wish to proclaim to the entire class any more of the activities that Hermione and he were doing than he had to. It was one thing for the rumor mill say it, it would be another matter entirely if he was to admit how much he enjoyed Hermione's attention upon his fleshy-wand and what they have done together. Or how he had been missing her intimate touch, more than he thought he would.

The Professor looked startled by and suspicious of his answer. In a voice whose tone clearly stated that she knew she would not like the answer, she asked, "What form, Mister Potter?" She could not recall being handed any form from Poppy, let alone any form about Miss Granger needing to be absent from her class. That was a problem with standardized forms; one looked very much like another. Therefore, when a House-Elf had presented her a form that dealt with a Heritage Ritual, she had automatically assumed it was about a Hogwarts student notifying her that they were going to partake in the ritual on the Autumn Solstice, which was in two days on September Twenty-Second. While the Ministry _handled_ the actual ritual, and time slots were allocated years in advance, Hogwarts and its student records had to be notified and updated, but Hogwarts only got their notice a couple of days in advance, flooding the Deputy Head-Mistress's office with them.

Before anyone could say anything more, Dobby popped in next to Harry and handed him the form. He, in turn, then handed it to her while stating, "This form, which has also been filed with Gringotts Wizarding Bank, as tradition and treaty require."

Professor McGonagall glanced at the form, noting her signature and that it was a standard Heritage Ritual form, one of several dozen she'd seen that day alone, not counting the all the others from the rest of the week, month, and years she had been Deputy Headmistress. Still a bit upset, a bit confused and not liking being on the defensive, she remarked, "So Miss Granger wishes to waste her time with the Heritage Ritual in a couple of days. That does not excuse her from my class."

He could only stare at the woman in surprise. Slowly, making sure he would understand, "It was not a waste of time, Professor. And that it not a request form, but a **notification** form of the results of the Heritage Ritual."

"Results? From a Heritage Ritual?" Professor McGonagall was startled. "But Miss Granger is a **Muggle**-born!"

"So?" Harry responded in a bored tone as he was getting tired of hearing that and that some a meaningless thing should have any bearing on such things. He simple replied, "Family magic has to start somewhere, Professor."

"But the Heritage Ritual is to be performed," Professor McGonagall started saying.

Harry interrupted her with, "on a witch's or wizard's seventeenth birthday, according to the Enchanter Tacitus, which was yesterday for her. As such, Madam Granger did so and gave birth to Granger Family Magic."

Her response was an owlish blinking of her eyes in confusion. Magic confirmed what he had just said. Enchanter Tacitus was the Merlin of Merlin's time. If anyone would know, Enchanter Tacitus would. Trying to regain some ground, she asked, "Even if Miss... Madam Granger did so, she should have recovered already."

"As Madam Pomfrey stated on that form, Madam Granger's magic core and body need time to adjust. So she will need a few days to recover and a couple more days to relearn the flows of her magic. While her body adapts, she will be under Madam Pomfrey's care. I will be taking notes for Hermione while she is recovering. Once Madam Pomfrey releases her, I will be helping her adjust to her new magic."

Surprised that her student and not a professor would be helping, Professor McGonagall could only get out; "You-" Before Harry interrupted her.

Feeling the slight that Professor McGonagall was about to give him, Harry stood up and felt something overcoming him, much like it did during Hermione's Heritage Ritual. He meant to say, "I stood as her Liege-Lord in place of her father, so I have a responsibility". Instead, in a clear and strong voice, he found himself stating, "House Potter stands!"

As those three words left his mouth, his clothes changed. The student robes he wore were replaced by the Lord Potter formal outfit. The outfit consisted of a sleeveless grey, golden-border chiton with a golden breastplate over it, grey forearm and shin guards, and attached to the breastplate at the shoulders a with red cape with golden border. His eyes held a glow of power that everyone present could feel.

In the voice of Lord Potter, Harry proclaimed, "I, Lord Harry James, son of Lord James Charlus of House Potter and the son of Lady Lily Hera of House Black, did stand with Hermione as her Liege-Lord for her Heritage Ritual, and will continue to stand as her Liege-Lord hence-forth. I do swear upon my House and to Magic, to uphold the Code and the Measure, to defend the realm, and to shield the weak. So be it."

With his final words, there was a flash of light, and everyone felt Magic's acceptance of his words and oath. His clothing returned to his original Hogwarts students robes; though, the House Potter crest stood proudly above were the Gryffindor student crest would be. The Gryffindor Student crest was absent, and in its place was the Hogwarts School crest.

There was a palatable aura of power surrounding Harry that everyone in the classroom could feel, regardless of their actual magical-sensitivity. It was like nothing any of those there had ever felt before. The closest was when Dumbledore was angry, but that was like comparing a splash of red upon canvas to an actual multi-colored painting.

Harry returned to his seat, unaware of his aura of power being felt by all. He did ask several questions of those students that were having problems, starting a discussion with them, the rest of the class, and Professor McGonagall how and why they were having problems and what they might try to solve their problems. The most common solution was the tried and true one: practice, practice, and more practice.

After a little while, Professor McGonagall dismissed the class.

All the students left the classroom as quickly as they could, to share with their friends and others what had happened in class.

A few, like Harry himself, were pondering his words. Many took comfort in the fact that he was finally taking up his responsibilities and duties.

Harry, himself, was pondering what had happened as he had not meant to say that which he had. Also where the information he had said came from as he did not know his parents' middle names, nor how his mother, a Muggle-born witch, had become the Lady Black, Head of House Black, a house known as strong followers of the Blood-Purity group.

Even as he pondered this, the answers came to him through Family Magic. Family Magic was more than just an ability or specialty that a magical family had. Family Magic linked every family member together and defined that family within magic itself. All that a family is forms a part of their Family Magic.

It was the Potter Family Magic that had helped him overcome the various challenges that he had faced in his Hogwarts years. Potter Family Magic was as much a part of him as his green eyes and black hair. It made him who he was.

Black Family Magic, which he got from his mother, told him that the previous Lord Black, Cronus Black, was the one that _opened_ his mother and made her his heir through adoption. It also told him that his mother was actually Squib-born from a minor cadet branch of House Black, who had broken off from House Black several centuries after the Founding of Hogwarts and House Black itself, and founded their own House, the House Grey, which his mother was the last of. The Grey Family Magic had been absorbed back into the Black Family Magic.

Apparently, magical Houses could be _divided_ into smaller groupings, within the House itself, there were a main branch that inherited almost everything and then there were one or more cadet branches associated with that House. The cadet branches over time could become magical Houses in and of themselves, yet would still retain some contact with the original main House. Cadet Houses, especially those that had established themselves as a magical House on their own, such as the Founders themselves, could inherit from the main House if it died out, as was the case with his mother.

* * *

Lunch at Hogwarts was a quieter meal than the others because with the various student schedules, it was the meal that was spread out over several hours and attended in small groups.

Many students had not noticed until they returned to the Great Hall, but Potter's _throne_, as many were thinking of it, was absent. This gave credence to the theory that Potter had conjured it himself. What that meant, many students were still pondering.

So it was a big surprising to the students currently seated in the Great Hall when Potter's throne returned just a moment before he entered the Great Hall, proving that he could not have conjured it, as he would have needed to have been in the room to do so. This lead to more speculation on from where the throne actually came. Interestingly enough, none of the students even touched upon the basic truth that Hogwarts was a magic castle able to adjust itself to accommodate all its students and faculty, providing resources as needed.

Harry walked into the Great Hall, he saw his _chair_ and he used it again, as he still felt it was the path of least resistance.

His thoughts were divided: going over the new information that Family Magic had provided him, the fact that Professor McGonagall did not seem to know or care about Hermione undergoing the Heritage Ritual, and he seemed to have an itch he did not know how to scratch or where it was located.

Like many, he did not see how over-worked and under-staffed Hogwarts really was. Most students only saw Hogwarts through their limited perception, seeing only the interactions that occurred during their classes and with their friends. They lacked the appreciation of all the preparation and administrative work that was required to conduct classes and run an institution like Hogwarts. They did not know that several professors had to double up to make sure all necessary duties were completed.

Professor McGonagall, as an example, had to triple up, as she had to all the work of three full-time jobs. In addition to which, she had to do several of the mundane tasks traditionally assigned to the Headmaster as Dumbledore was busy with his other jobs. In fairness, Dumbledore himself had several additional tasks that he found himself responsible for in addition to his _regular_ three full-time jobs. For several of those tasks, he had originally only offered to give counsel, yet over decades found himself the one doing the actual work.

Once Harry had seated himself, he noticed that Luna and Neville were still standing, so he gestured for them to sit with him. Ron just sat down on his own in the spot to the left of Harry. Neville sat on the other side of Ron, while Luna sat on Harry's right.

Harry was a bit lost in his thoughts so he did not notice that neither Neville nor Luna took any food until after Harry, himself, did. Ron had just helped himself to the food even before he finished sat down, grabbing a bit of everything onto his plate. Even while still filling his plate, he started to eat as every third item went into his mouth instead of onto his plate.

As Ron stuffed his face, many of those around him shot him looks of disgust, all of which he ignored as he continued on.

Since beginning to meditate and to practice mind-magic, Harry had begun to become even more sensitive to magic than he had been previously, so he could not help feeling the magic and its associated emotions rolling off Ron. At first, he just assumed that Ron was jealous that Hermione came to him to swear herself and have him help her with her Heritage Ritual, and not to Ron. But he was not feeling from Ron's magic any feelings of fear of being replaced rather, rather he felt from Ron's magic emotions of hurt and failure.

"Ron", Harry called out in a gentle voice to get his friend's attention. Seeing no response, he made his voice a bit firmer, yet still quiet so that the others around would not hear him. "Ron!"

"What?" Ron replied a bit more forcefully than he intended. A quick look of embarrassment appeared upon his face. Feeling defensive, he remarked, "I'm a growing boy!"

With a tired look on his face, Harry remarked casually, "So my cousin... Do you wish to end up like him?"

Ron's face took on a look of concentration as he tried to recall Harry's cousin, he then paled. Defensively, he began, "But food is magic!"

Harry looked at Ron with a confused look upon his face. He knew he was missing something to understand Ron's reply, but now was not the time to try to figure it out. Instead, he began, "Ron, Hermione did what she had to do. We did ask if you wanted to help with the research we did and all."

Ron had a sour look on his face.

"You do know that you would have needed your Great-Uncle's permission to assist Hermione in helping her perform her ritual right, mate?" Harry inquired gently.

Ron paused and then frowned. He had not thought about such matters before.

"Yeah, the Weasleys are one branch of _Gryffindor's Children_, and have stood fast within Gryffindor House since the First Class. You're a good friend and wizard," Harry stated. Several witches that had been politely ignoring their conversation were now checking Ron out as if seeing him for the first time. He continued, "But you would still need your Great-Uncle's permission-as the Head of your House-in order to assist Hermione. Do you see him giving it?"

When Hogwarts was new, it was not known for some time. In order to obtain students, the Founders had to go out and find those willing to attend their new school and accept the concept of requiring core classes for all students, regardless of their areas of study. Only those without anything to lose took them up on their offer, so the Founders ended up bringing many of the now-existing families into the Wizarding World, either from isolated magical enclaves or the mundane world. Those that the Founders brought in were felt to be-even by the Founders themselves-like their own biological children. So the Founders sponsored their students in the Wizardly World, giving them the status of being their magical heirs. Biological heirs took precedent, and with so many magical heirs for each of the Founders, the title of magical heir did not mean much, save for a few, and then only to define social groups and marriage contracts.

Ron sighed, knowing what Harry said was true. Even if Hermione had not been Muggle-born, one House did not get involved in the affairs of another lightly. The sanctity of a House was paramount within the Wizardly World. Then throw in the fact that Hermione was truly Muggle-born, and no one but a Head of a House or an orphan would help her. Of course, they might only help hoping that one called _Muggle_-born was actually _Squib_-born and would revive an old House.

Ron did not like to be remained of his family status in the greater scheme of things.

"Besides, mate, you do know Hermione isn't going to leave it at this," Harry stated. "She's probably going to move into the Hogwarts Library with all the _research_ she'll want to do."

Ron frowned but had to nod his head in agreement. He quoted what many young wizards had said about young witches throughout the ages, "Girls are mental." With that, he returned to his food, eating in a slower manner.

Harry grinned and said, "From a wizard's perceptive, maybe, but that's half the fun."

Several wizards and witches looked at him after that. Half thought him crazy and the others were not sure whether they had just been insulted.

"Either way, mate," Harry began, "My godfather mentioned that-" He stopped as he noticed that there were others listening in. He discreetly cast a privacy bubble around himself, Ron, Neville and Luna, and then continued, "Padfoot mentioned the importance of cleanliness and neatness to a witch."

Ron looked at Harry with food still in his mouth and a surprised look on his face and said, "What does that have to do with me?"

For a moment, Harry could not believe that his friend was that clueless, but then he recalled that Ron never really thought beyond when and where his next meal was. To be fair, he, himself, had not given much thought to settling down until Sirius had brought it up in one of their talks and had included numerous books and magazines within all the materials he had gathered to prepare for this past summer.

Smirking a bit, Harry asked Ron, "You do like witches? Right, mate?"

Food flew out of Ron's mouth and Neville had a smile on his face. "Blimey," Ron remarked, "what kind of question is that?"

"That you need to clean up your act if you want some witch to be interested in you," Neville delivered the punch-line in a calm, clear voice.

Ron shot Neville a hurt look and opened his mouth to say something but Harry countered, "He's right, mate. You don't want to be a _unus_, do you?"

Defensively, Ron exclaimed not understanding the term, "I like witches!"

Neville shook his head; Luna continued to eat her lunch but kept some of her attention upon Harry, who did not notice as he was looking at Ron.

Harry replied, "That's good, mate. But if they don't like you back..." He let his voice trail off as he believed he got his point across. What Ron will make of it, he was not sure. "Sirius says it takes a bit of effort, but it's worth it, he said."

Harry removed the privacy bubble from around them and resumed eating his meal. He did inquiry a bit about how Luna's morning classes went, as not to exclude her for the wizards' conversation.

The conversation winded down and the four needed to head out to their next classes, save Harry, who was free for the rest of the day.

The others waited until Harry got up and took a step or two from the table before they, themselves, got up, taking his action as permission to head off to class themselves.

Not that Harry had any more classes for the day. He headed out towards Myrtle's bathroom with a slow pace. He did note that Luna was following him for some reason. So he moved over to one of the many alcoves, expanded it a bit, and waited for Luna to join him.

He noted that she was a bit nervous from her magic, and how her eyes would look around every so often. He would admit, if only to himself, that he was a bit curious what Luna might look like in her _birthday suit_. Was it terrible that Hermione and his _exploration_ of their bodies, has made him curious about other girls? While Hermione had not mentioned it, he was not sure what future Hermione and he might have. He did know that, even the Black Family Magic, which was one of strongest of the Founders' heirs, magic or blood, was already begun to be assimilate into the Potter Family Magic.

"Luna," Harry prompted her gently.

Luna looked at him a bit startled and without thought said, "Yes, m'lord?"

Harry frown at Luna's address, it meant something, something important. And yet, it was something he really did not wish to deal with at this time. While he did not regret helping Hermione out, it did put him several weeks behind schedule. Of course, he was a couple of weeks ahead of schedule coming into Hogwarts. Either way, Luna had sought him out, although, he could not think of any reasons why.

"Are you, my friend?" Luna asked nervously, afraid of the answer.

"Of course," Harry remarked in surprise. "Why won't I be the friend of such a brilliant, lovely girl such as yourself?" He was confused why Luna would ask that of him, although, he had a sinking feeling that she leading up to asking him if he would _open_ her. He could read between the lines that Madam Pomfrey, at least, will want him to _open_ more witches, and knowing Hermione, she will want that as well. Regardless, he wanted to see Hermione stabilized first and to review what happened before he tried with another witch.

Of course with Luna, he really could not, nor should, guess where her thoughts were leading. She did surprise him by stating, "If I'm your friend, then why won't you let me help you?"

He could only stare at Luna. Bewildered, he asked, "Help with what?"

Luna looked like she was on the verge of tears, and so he did the only thing he could think of he hugged her close to him, which did not seem to help as he could feel the sadness radiating from her.

Realizing he did not know how long this would go on, he picked Luna up physically and carried her over to a chair he conjured and sat down, placing Luna on his lap, lacking anywhere else to put her and keep her close. In a gentle voice, Harry asked, "Now, what do you think I need help with?"

Luna wailed, "I don't know!" Through her tears, she inquired, "How can I be your friend and help you, if I don't know. Friends are to help one another. You've helped me, but I don't know how to help you."

Luna began to belittle herself and bemoan in what she thought how she was a terrible friend that was just using him. It got to the point where, Harry firmly yet gently commanded, "Luna, hush."

And she did, much like Hermione would.

This was not something else he did not want to think about.

Harry explained to her how she had helped him deal with the loss of his godfather, and by extension his parents, as well as her correspondence over the summer and her help with several difficulties he had in understanding Runes and Arithmancy.

"Do you feel better?" Harry asked gently, to which Luna nodded her head, not trusting her voice. "Now, which class do you have?"

"Arithmancy," was Luna's reply, to which Harry nodded his head.

He picked Luna up and off his lap, which she wish she could stay there, but understood that she needed to get to class. In fact, she was probably late to class already. He took her hand and guided her through several secret passages that got them to the Arithmancy wing quickly and they both entered the classroom.

The entire class of fifth-year Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs students and Professor Septima Vector were looking at them as they entered.

With a charming smile, Harry called out in a good humor voice, "Good afternoon, Professor Vector. I'm sorry but I needed to borrow Luna for a bit. I hope there won't be any problem, and I could leave her in your care for your class." Seeing Professor Vector pale still, gave him a bit of pause that he might have said something wrong. But what, he was not sure.

Nervously, Professor Vector replied, "Of course, milord. I take good care of all my students."

"Very good to hear," Harry replied. What else could he say?

"Milord?" the Professor remarked to get his attention.

"Yes," Harry acknowledged her.

"If you would forgive my curiosity, I was wondering how those Arithmancy formulas you had sent me over the summer came out," the Professor inquired.

"It worked out very well," Harry answered. "I do thank you for your assistance, Professor Vector. Between yourself, Luna, and Hermione, I was able to accomplish what I needed to get done. I did take your suggestion and forwarded a copy to the International Guild of Arithmancer. I have also enrolled in their independent study program. You came highly recommended, by the way.

"Speaking of programs, can I have a copy of Hermione's homework assignment? She's going to be out of classes for the rest of the week, and as her Lord, it is my duty to get her homework assignments." He finished with a grin that sent most hearts a fluttering.

"Of course, milord," Professor Vector said. She tapped her wand upon a piece of parchment, and then levitated over to him.

Harry pocketed the parchment and said, "Thanks, Professor Vector. I'll see you around. Bye. Take care, Luna."

With that he walked out of the classroom and once both headed toward Myrtle's bathroom. This time, he was not interrupted. Before entering the bathroom is checked for any wards or spells that Dumbledore or Voldemort might have placed around it and found none but the Hogwarts wards which were part of everything within and without Hogwarts. But those wards would not alert anyone if someone was to enter or exit the bathroom, Death Eater or student. So he put up some of his own, weaving them into the local Hogwarts wards to hide them a bit.

He entered the bathroom and scanned for Myrtle, but did not find her. He again checked the entrance of the Chamber for any wards or spells, which he did find a few, but they were placed long before Dumbledore was born, even before the Ministry was born. These were woven into the Hogwarts wards much as he had done to the bathroom entrance, and could be easily missed if he did not know how such could be done. Still, he added his own and then walked over to the sink with the little snake there.

He concentrated upon the snake and whispered, "Open."

Harry let out a breath of relief when the Chamber opened. He had been afraid that he had lost his parseltongue ability when he had performed his purification/healing ritual over the summer. His cursed-scar was almost completely gone now, not that anyone seemed to notice.

He thought a moment, pictured a snake in his mind, and then hissed out "Stairs". To which, the slide turned into stairs. He then hissed out, "Down," and quickly found himself at the bottom of the stairs in an almost blink of an eye. The magical escalator returned back into a slide. But he just shrugged his shoulders and continued on.

Once he got to one of the Basilisk's shredded skins, he leaned down, pressing his palms flat with the ground and began to chant. As he chanted, a blue circle of light surrounded the skin, the light flashed, and then the skin was gone. Or rather, the skin was now within a magical pocket that he could store anything within.

He then came to the cave-in, and using some construction/mining charms he had researched, he repaired the damage and strength that section of the tunnel that lead to the Chamber of Secrets.

He opened the Chamber and was surprised that the corpse of the Basilisk he had slew was exactly as he recalled it was when he was last there, several years ago, battling the shade of Tom Riddle. He saw the fang he had used to stab Riddle's diary, which he took up and placed to the side. Again, he leaned down with his palms flat on the ground and began to chat. Again, a blue circle surrounded the Basilisk's corpse which disappeared with a flash of light.

He then walked to what he felt was the center of the Chamber and sat down in a mediation position he come to enjoy. He let his senses and magic wash over the entire Chamber, feeling it, exploring it, and absorbing the sensations. Slowly, he worked on commandeering the wards of the Chamber, much as he had the wards over Privet Drive. Both were set to keep people out and not really set up to deal within anyone messing with them from within. Still, the wards within the Chamber seem to have power and intelligence to them. They seem to feel him out and measure him. They seemed curious about him and friendly. Which he had not thought was possible. After a time, he did not know how long, the wards were actively helping him, correctly some minor mistakes he had already made and seem to want to share themselves with him. In their sharing, he had come to better understand warding and such magic.

Once he was satisfied with his understanding and control over the Chamber's wards, he summoned Dobby and Winky to clean and set up the Chamber to his liking. He planned on using the Chamber for his various independent study programs, training Hermione in her new levels of magics, and just having his own _place_. As a bonus, he would be denying Riddle an access point into the Castle. He did hope that there was more to the Chamber than just a nest for the Basilisk. 


	7. Chapter 7

Bonds of Magic  
Part 07  
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The Chamber of Secrets stood in silent, as Harry sat in a meditation position in the center of the chamber. The two House-Elves were busy cleaning up centuries of neglect and worked silently, mostly out of habit but also in a sense of respect for their Master.

As Harry sat there, he was unsure of the time, it could have been dinner-time, midnight or the next day. He was not sure, so busy had he been with the Chamber Wards and reviewing his successful attempt to commandeered the wards around and within the Chamber. While he understood he had several advantages, being within the Chamber itself and its wards and being a parseltongue, still it seemed the wards did not put up much resistance nor were that complicated.

It seemed too easy. Sure over eighty-percent of the _battle_ was getting inside to the wards before even the most powerful of Ward-Breakers could do anything, and getting inside merely took being a parseltongue.

It was almost as if he was the Heir of Slytherin. But Potter Family Magic let him know for sure that was not the case. In fact, House Potter predated all the Founders and their Houses by several thousand years easily.

Of course, it was possible that one or more of the Founders' Houses were cadet branches of his House. Professor Dumbledore seems to be believe without a doubt that he, himself was the direct, main Heir of Gryffindor, and that Tom Riddle, through his mother Merope Gaunt, was the main Heir of Slytherin. Of course, the only _proof_ that the Gaunt could _claim_ to be descendents of Salazar Slytherin was that they possessed the parseltongue ability which if that was the only criteria would mark half of Asia and Africa, and a tenth of Europe as Slytherin's descendents. Of course, the Gaunts might have been one of Slytherin's children, whom some did received his gift of parseltongue as well as his biological offsprings, but considering how many there were it really did not mean much. Salazar Slytherin had traveled far and wide in his days, and brought many back to join Hogwarts, more than the other three Founders combined.

Some of the most of the famous Healers in history and of the present were parseltongue. It was only within the last century with the Gaunt's madness cultivating in Voldemort's rise to power that parseltongue became associated so strongly with Dark Magic. Many have forgotten that Parsel-Magic was one of the strongest of all the Healing magics, and it was not coincidence that the snake was the ability of healing in both the mundane and magical worlds, the most famous of which was the Wizard-Healer Asclepios's staff with snakes upon it.

Of course, it was but one of the examples of the impact Voldemort had upon the British Magical World.

Even with his misgiving, which he admitted to himself came from a sense of paranoia, he let his magic out to explore the Chamber. He also used the Wards of the Chamber, themselves, to double-check his findings. He did this both as a test of his own senses and to validate his control and understanding of the wards themselves.

He detected that he was correct that the Chamber was more than a mere nest for the Basilisk. He had found a suite of rooms, rooms for: bathing, sleeping, studying, research, eating, dueling, and potion brewing.

His curiosity got the best of him and he had to explore in-person what his magical senses had told him.

He was surprised to find that all the books were well-preserved, and considered old even in Slytherin's time, plus there were several books that Slytherin, himself, wrote. Surprisedly or not, majority of the books were on Healing, Parsel-Magic, and Enchanting. Save for those of Slytherin's hand and a few very old books, a copy of all the books could be found with the main library. So he was not sure why the books were there. Somehow, he felt that it was not the case of the Founder being too lazy to go back and forth to the library. He would have to check the books out to see what he was missing.

He shook his head and moved on to his next find, which was Slytherin's potion laboratory. The lab looked nothing like how Snape had set up his potion class, but then Snape's classroom had nothing to do with the International Potion Guild's recommended set-up either. Slytherin's lab was set-up as the International Potion Guild had recommended, there was a soft, cool breeze circulating the air, everything was spaced out and easy to reach, there was a soft, gentle light illuminating everything, and several protective charms placed strategically around all. It was an open, inviting, and comfortable room to work in, unlike Snape's classroom, which was dark, moldy, and cramp. He could only guess that the classroom reflected the _teacher_.

He noted that the potion supply for the laboratory contained several rare and now-extinct plants, all of which were placed under a ward to preserve them and ensure that the storage units would contain a certain amount of those ingredients.

He was surprised to realize that several of the _lost_ potions he had read about during the summer would be now possible, given these ingredients and the venom from the Basilisk, some that had not been able to be made since those ingredients became extinct.

While he was pondering the various potions he needed to back, both for what was to come and his independent study, the itch he had started to feel back just before lunch was getting worse.

He walked out of the potion lab and into the main antechamber. He resumed his meditation position and began to seek the source of the unknown itch. He quickly realized that the _itch_ was a mere mental sensation drawing his attention along one of the various strands that he was connected to.

Potter Family Magic explained to him how the strands were representations of the magical bonds between people, the world, and magic itself. It had many names, some where: Chains of Fate, Web of Life, and Weaves of Magic. No one had ever seen the entire pattern, but everyone agreed that it was a living thing and constantly changing. Some believed that this great tapestry controlled the lives and destinies of Wizards, even Muggles, and was the origin of the myths of the Norns and other such entities.

Having some idea that one of his responsibilities was now coming into play, he stood in a ready-stance that Professor Eaglestone had shown the class. It was a relax pose, wand in hand in a loose grip, ready to defend or attack either magic or physical.

Instincts told him what to do, but not what would happen.

He felt the itch in his mind and tugged on it.

For a quick moment, nothing happened.

Then there was a pop.

Standing several meters in front of him was Narcissa Black. Black Family Magic informed him that when he had became Hermione's Liege-Lord he had also assumed his own House and the Black's headship as well. Once assuming the Headship of a House, all contracts, obligations and oaths involving the House were re-evaluated by the Family Magic as to their status and execution.

During this review process, several contracts and obligations were found to have been violated, bent, or out-right broken.

One such was the Black-Malfoy Marriage Contract. As such, Narcissa Malfoy found herself no longer Lady Malfoy but a mere daughter of House Black once again. Various penalties, financial and magical, had been invoked against what remained of _House_ Malfoy, Lucius Malfoy. It was interesting to note that _House_ Malfoy was not found among all the Houses within the Empire of Avalon nor any of its allies, which included Magical Europe, parts of Asia, Africa, and the Americas. This invoked more penalties and fines.

Narcissa, herself, looked worse for wear, a quick look of panic and resignation upon her face when she first appeared, which Harry might have missed had she not appeared in front of him, but the look was quickly covered up with a practiced look of disinterest and distain. The shielded look had the earmarks of an Occlumency being practiced.

He also noted the various _spots_ of mundane make-up upon her face, hiding bruises, minor cuts, and other signs of abuse. Had he not been familiar with such things, first hand, he could have easily missed it or passed it off as a _trick of the light_.

Narcissa was dressed _to seduce_, as one of Seamus's _magazines_ would call it. She was wearing a Muggle _little black dress_ that was a size or two too small for her, given how tight and clingy it was upon her form, highlighting her curves and plains. Over the dress, she had on a witch's outer robe. It was a witch's outer robe as it was cut to show off a witch's figure and worn over clothing. The outer robes were for protection and utility, while inner robes were for modesty, concealment, and comfort. On her bare feet was a pair of Muggle high-heel open-toe shoes that showed off her dainty feet and firm, smooth legs.

He did not see her wand anywhere, nor any obvious place for it, but then he kept his and Hermione's wand is an invisible magical pocket that no one but he could access or detect. Plus, he knew that so-called wand-less magic, a catch-all phrase for any magic that was not apart of the ritual magic that _required_ a focus that Ministry insisted on being the _only_ magic that a Wizard needed to know. Of course, even the Ministry could not follow their own _recommendation_ as several positions within the Ministry required a passing grade in Potions, a wand-less magic.

Still, she was the former wife of Riddle's Right-Hand Wizard, the mother of a wanna-be Death Eater, the sister of an Inner Circle Death Eater, an alumni of Slytherin, and a witch belonging to one of the leading _Dark Families_ of the past several centuries.

Not one to underestimate or think was helpless.

And yet as he looked her over, he had the feeling he was making several wrong assumptions, but it was better to be sorry than dead.

He had his wand in his hand with a _Reducto_ pre-loaded, needing only a thought to release it, his body was relaxed ready to dodge any incoming spell-fire. Pre-loading spells was something he studied a lot during the summer. As the name implied, a spell could be prepared within a wand, cutting the casting time down to nothing. The draw back was that nothing else could be casted while the wand was pre-loaded, and the wizard had to keep in contact with the wand. Once the contact was broken, even for an insistence, the pre-loaded spell would be lost. Nor could a pre-loaded spell remain too long within the wand, the amount of time was dependent upon the wizard, the wand, the calendar and the world and stars. One could have multiple wands, several pre-loaded and one _empty_, which was why the Ministry tries to restrict such knowledge to their own Aurors only. He had several ideas to include Rune Magic to expand the wand/pre-loading ability.

Sirius had described Narcissa to him as a spoiled Pure-Blood Princess in all but name. He had nothing good to say of any of his relatives save for Andromeda Tonks nee Black.

While trying not to underestimate Narcissa, who was something of an unknown, yet could not be any more powerful than her sister, Bellatrix, nor her Master, Riddle, both of whom he had stood his ground against, he did felt that he could handle whatever she might throw at him. It was not arrogance, but a certainty in his abilities and control of the situation.

So he was prepared but confused when Narcissa fell to her knees, her clothing disappearing, and her wand resting upon her palms in offering as she said, "I do here by surrender my magic, my mind and my soul to my Lord, Harry James of House Potter and House Black, to do as he wishes."

He was doomed, he knew. Doom!

He did not know much, but even the little he knew before the summer, what Narcissa had just done was extremely rare and only done as a last resort.

It was called a _Witch's Surrender_, and it gave him he two choices; one, he could pick up her offered wand thus binding her to him for all eternity as his slave, or two, just do nothing. If he did nothing within several minutes she will have magic-out enough to be fatal. Even now, he could feel her magic leaking out of her uncontrollably and only he could stop it.

His mind was racing over the possibilities and consequences.

If he accepted, Narcissa would be his in a manner far greater than even Hermione had placed herself in. Magic and her very own soul would ensure her complete loyalty and service to him. When he died, she would follow. Nor would Magic and her soul allow her to be used against him in anyway. She would be dependent upon him in all things. One misstep or one misspoke word to her could be fatal.

He could not allow her to die. He knew that, and she probably knew that too. Hell, even with a magical oath, he would be suspicious of her, given the Malfoy and Riddle's _tricks_ for getting around magical contracts and the like, but this way.

"Always pure," was the cadet branch of House Black's motto, which could be rephrased as, "all or nothing."

Well, this was life or death. Not much more "all or nothing" than that.

Keep her or not?

Trust her or not?

Have her or not?

That was the question.

He was doomed. He did not want to think what Hermione's reaction to this will be. At least now, she could not do something similar. Not without his permission.

As he reached out for Narcissa's wand, he noted that she unconsciously braced herself as if expecting to be cursed very soon. He knew that the saying, "a wand _chose_ its wizard," was nothing more than magical field harmonics romanticize. The pain he felt when near Riddle was from their magical fields clashing heavily as their fields were polar opposites. His former cursed scar was simply more sensitive than the rest of him, but the clashing could be felt throughout his body and magic. On the other hand, soul-mates like his parents had the most compatible magical fields that bended so seamlessly as to merge into a single field. He could guess that not only did Lucius abuse her intentionally; their magic clashed as well, causing intentional suffering as well.

He was not sure which of them were more surprised when Narcissa let out a moan of pleasure when he touched her wand.

Contact!

All that was Narcissa's magic, memories and essence flew into him. Nothing was held back, all was eagerly offered without hesitation.

Had he not practice the various mediation and Occlumency exercises that Sirius had lined up for him; he could have drowned in the information overload he was experiencing.

As it was, he was barely keeping afloat as he experienced first-hand Narcissa's life. Growing up in a dark family where your parents used pain curses and dark curses to _disciple_ you or just to _toughen_ you up. Going through Hogwarts as a Slytherin, a House that practiced "power was everything," yet wishing you could have gone to Ravenclaw, where you felt you truly belonged. Befriending several other _misplaced_ Ravenclaws, such as his mother in Gryffindor, and a few actual Ravenclaws that belonged in other Houses as well. Being _opened_ by his father, the Head Boy, solely as a favor to his mother and Sirius. Being denied her O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s, against Tradition and Customs more powerful that actual Law, solely to prove Riddle's control over his followers and expressing his misogynic attitudes that he _obtained_ from the Muggle Orphanage he had grew up at. Being the trophy wife of psychopathic _husband_ that enjoyed showing her off to promote himself in public and lording over her in private to combat his own insecurities. Forced to _host_ the various Death Eaters' gatherings and provide _entertainment_ for her guests. Whether she was that _entertainment_ or not, depended upon Lucius's mood and how well she used her mouth, be it her choice of words or her skills at oral sex. She had also used her words in print, under an assumed name of Ann Nymous White, who presented herself as a Half-blood, Muggle-Raised witch trying to understand the Wizarding World, the Ministry and what was happening around her.

It was Narcissa presently demonstrating those oral sex skills that helped him return to the present. He realized that he would have to literally consummate their new _relationship_ to ensure that she would survive.

Which he reluctantly did.

It was a bit disconcerting that she had passed out in pleasure with a smile upon her face. As this was his second time having intercourse, and the second time that his _partner_ passed out, he hoped it was not a sign of what might happen each time he did this. That would be very embarrassing.

He felt Narcissa's magic being transferred from him back to her, which allowed him to relax. He also felt that her magic had been tainted by Riddle and Malfoy. Not knowing what they had done, he knew it would be best to just get rid whatever it was.

He called Dobby and Winky to help him prepare the Purification/Healing ritual, which he performed upon Narcissa. The ritual removed any _foreign_ magic from her, such as Riddle and Lucius's, and healed her various injuries, scars, and abuse that she had suffered from. He did notices that what little of his magic that resultant from her surrender was not affected by the ritual.

After finishing the ritual, he had the two House-Elves take the still unconscious Narcissa to one of the Black-owned houses within Hogsmeade that had some strong wards for her to rest. He conjured a note for her to make a list of what subjects she wished to take her O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s in. He figured, if nothing else, he had a new study partner, if not mentor as Narcissa had secretly continued her education, despite Lucius and Riddle's interference in her life, as well as the standard Wizard Family pre-Hogwarts and summer training.

With that, his body felt it was time to sleep, so it did.

* * *

Harry was a bit surprised to find himself within his bed within the sixth-year boys' dorm. He did not recall leaving the Chamber of Secrets or much of anything after sending Narcissa to rest. He could not dismiss what had happened as a dream as his mental link with her was clearly present. It also put to his mind that he had a similar link with Hermione as well, whom he missed more than he thought he would given it had only been a couple of days and she should awaken tomorrow.

He got up; headed to the bath room to perform his morning ritual, which while a Muggle expression held a lot more meaning in the Wizarding World. Afterwards, he dressed and headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

He noticed that Professor Eaglestone and another witch he did not know were seated at the staff table and several earlier-risers, mostly witches those of years four and up, were seated at their perspective tables. All the witches were watching him, with a few looking at him much like Ron looked at dessert.

He let himself fall into a relaxed, meditative state as he finished the walk over to the Gryffindor table and his chair at the end of the table. As soon as he sat down and settled himself, his breakfast appeared and he began to eat.

A bit later, Neville and Luna entered the Great Hall, and out of habit mostly, each headed to their usual, isolated spot at their perspective House tables.

Harry called to them and they came over. They talked about anything that he had missed yesterday evening and their upcoming classes that day. It was an enjoyable breakfast among friends.

Soon the Great Hall filled up and there after, the Post-Owls came with the morning mail and news. Hedwig brought his copy of the Quibbler. After having a bit of bacon, his owl flew to his shoulder, where it seems she read the newspaper together with him.

"Is that the Prophet," someone asked Harry. To which he replied, "Wouldn't touch that rag if you paid me. Besides, the Quibbler reports that the building that housed the Daily Prophet burnt down a couple of days ago. The Aurors are still looking for bodies and the cause of the fires."

Gasps of surprise ran through the Great Hall and whispers as to the cause of the fires started up. Many mentioned that it must have been a Death Eater attack.

Harry had to laugh out-loud when he heard that and replied, "Now, why would Voldemort -" and various witches and wizards screamed in terror at the mere mention of Riddle's made-up name. He continued, ignored their screams, "take out one of his own assets?"

Screams of denial rang out from various students. To which, Harry inquired, "Who owns the Daily Prophet? Who profits from all the lies and slander that they publish?"

A silence descended upon the Great Hall as many pondered that. For a few moments before various murmuring could be heard throughout the Great Hall.

Neville leaned in next to Harry and whispered, "Who does own the Prophet?"

Harry replied honestly in a low voice, "No clue. But it has supported Voldemort and his _agenda_. So I have a few guesses."

With that, Harry returned to reading the Quibbler. He noted an article about how Gringotts Wizarding Bank was closed for the past couple days, citing an outbreak of Goblin-pox infection, affecting both Goblin, their human employees, and their customers for the past several months. It was a good thing that he had avoided the _popular_ areas such as Diagon Alley, knowing that Dumbledore and Voldemort would be looking for him there, disguised or not. Besides, he could have been infected with Goblin-pox as well. From the article's description, it did not sound like something he would wish upon his enemies.

Well, maybe upon Riddle.


	8. Chapter 8

Bonds of Magic  
Part 08  
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When Harry got to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, he was surprise to see that Professor Eaglestone and her guest were already there. They had all left the Great Hall at the same time and had come straight to the classroom. And yet, the two witches had gotten there before him, even with the various shortcuts and secret passageways that he knew. He wondered if the rumors that the Hogwarts Professors, in order to deal with all the students and their schedules, were using Time Turners, apparition within Hogwarts, or some combination of the two.

Not only had the two witches beat him to the classroom, but Professor Eaglestone's guest had changed her outfit. In the Great Hall she had worn the standard witch's robes that all the female staff members wore.

Now, she was wearing a form-fitting body stocking that covered her from neck to toes and wrists. The body stocking was black or a very dark color so that it would not matter what color it might actually be. On her shins and forearms were grey bracers and around her waist was a grey utility belt with some material draping down it, giving the impression of a small mini-skirt. On her back, was a large wooden shield that was about a meter wide, covering her back and a bit more. He thought he could see writing on the wooden shield that he felt he understand but could not quite back out.

Curious, Harry called out, "Professor Eaglestone, who your guest?"

With a smile, Professor Eaglestone replied back, "Mister Potter, just the wizard we were waiting on. Harry, is it okay if I can you that?"

Harry nodded in response and had a smile on his face. In the short time that he had Professor Eaglestone, he had come to like her. She seemed to have a good sense of humor and more knowledgeable teacher of the Defense class than even Professor Lupin was.

Professor Eaglestone continued with a smile, "Great. You can call me 'Beth.' This is my Coven-Sister, Erika Ewer."

With her name was mentioned, Erika gave a shallow bow in acknowledgement of him. During which she never took her eyes off of him. He felt like she was sizing him up much as how Ron would size up the various desserts.

He blushed slightly. Which he tried to minimize through meditation as not to embarrass him too much, but was not sure how successful he was. Erika Ewer was a very athletic woman, in her early twenties, and her outfit seemed to emphasis her womanly figure that could easily make her a super-model within the Fashion World.

"Merry met, milord," Erika greeted. There was a smile upon her face as she spoke to him, much like Ron's smile upon the first appearance of the desserts at the Welcoming Feast.

He was a bit puzzled by her greeting, but figured it would be only be polite to reply in kind, so he said, "And merry met to you." He had meant to finish with "milady," figuring that it would be the equivalent of "milord", but instead, he found himself finishing with, "Hit-Witch Ewer."

The two witches smiled towards him, and he blushed a bit again.

Professor Eaglestone said, "Harry, I've been enjoying our sparring matches and helping you with your course-work, a lot more than I thought I would. So much so that I haven't noticed how much more time I've been spending with you than with the rest of the class. That, and there isn't much more I can teach you.

"So, I've asked my sister here to come help me out. There are several things Erika knows that I don't, as well as, this will give me a chance to observe your sparring session objectively from the side-lines. So for this class and probably the future, I would like for you and Erika to go off to side a bit and go over what you've learned."

Harry felt bad that he had taken so much of Professor Eaglestone's time, especially as she could have been helping his fellow classmate with their Defense work, which could very well save their lives. He was happy that she had sought help and brought someone else in to help. He did wonder why the other Professors didn't have assistants, thus allowing them to such an opportunity.

Harry nodded his head and said, "Thank you, Professor Eaglestone."

"Beth," Professor Eaglestone corrected him.

To be cute, he replied with a cheeky smile, "Yes, Professor."

He and Erika moved over to the side of the classroom. Once there, Erika asked him, "Do you know the Expansion Charm?"

To which, he nodded his head. He took his wand out to cast the spell, but Erika's hand stopped him. "Not so fast, Mister Potter," she replied. She hesitated for a second, she casted several privacy charms, a few he was not familiar with, and then inquired, "Do you know how to combine your magic with another? That is, to make a circle?"

He looked at Erika with a bit surprise, from both his summer research and Family Magics; he knew that, in magic especially, there was strength in numbers, both figuratively and literally. It was the reason that covens existed in the first place. By coming together with a common goal, the center, the coven could do more than any of the individual members could on their own, even doing the same thing at the same time separately. The whole was greater than any of its parts. And yet, the entire Hogwarts curriculum seemed to ignore anything circle-related, which included most major and long-term magics.

Harry answered carefully, "Hit-Witch Ewer, I haven't found anything about circles and more importantly, how one creates a circle in any of the Hogwarts curriculum textbooks or in their reference material. What little I found, did not tell me much of anything save that each coven had their own ways of creating a circle and such knowledge was restricted to coven-members only."

Erika Ewer was a bit surprised at Harry's answer. It showed on her face, as she replied, "Only greater circles are restricted to coven-members only, Mister Potter. And that's mostly because the greater circles are more coven-specific in nature, than any true need for secrecy. But the lesser circles, especially though for four or under are usually widely known. No matter. This is how you can create a circle."

She then proceeded to show how wizards and witches could combine their magics to work as a single unit, instead of working as individuals within a group.

Together, Erika and Harry formed a circle of two and casted the Expansion Charm over the corner of the D.A.D.A. classroom, which enlarged it to three times the size of the rest of the classroom. Before breaking the circle, Erika also had them cast various protection and safety wards needed for a dueling area.

After that, Erika took ten steps away from Harry's side, grabbed her wooden shield from off her back, and took up a defensive stance, with the wooden shield protecting her middle, held by her left arm.

Harry noticed that there was some kind of crystal at the center of the wooden shield, which seemed to be the eye of the painted bird of prey that was painted upon her wooden shield. The painted bird looked as if it was alive and would leap out at him.

He knew that the wooden shield could not have been something simple, but when the duel began, he started off with a powerful Reducto and Incendio curses.

Both which had no visible affect upon the wooden shield, even if they should have reduced it to splinters or set it on fire.

Erika was slowly gaining ground on him, despite all the curses and charms he tried against her wooden shield. There were several _unblockable_ spells besides the three Unforgivables, although they were all weak. Still, the wooden shield absorbed them too. He had to retreat several times as Erika got too close. He would have to ask Erika about her wooden shield some time after class, especially if they could stop the three Unforgivables, as he seemed to think they could.

On the next time, Erika got too close to him, he summoned Godric Gryffindor's sword and tried to use it against her. Again, the wooden shield worked against a physical attack as it had against his magical attacks. He was able to force her back using physical force from his sword. He also noticed that despite the force he had placed into several of his slashes against the wooden shield, several which drove Erika back, there were no marks upon the wooden shield.

Seeing that any direct attack against Erika was not working, he shifted in using indirect attacks, such as icing over the floor, hoping to trip Erika up. To which, she replied, "About time, Mister Potter. Use that brain of yours. You won't win against me with just power."

So, they spent the rest of the class trying various indirect attacks he could against her, which Erika easily avoided or countered.

When Professor Eaglestone announced that class was over, Harry was exhausted. Erika placed her wooden shield back upon her back and handed him a restoration-potion from her utility belt. He noticed that it had a pleasant peppermint aftertaste. His summer research included quick ways to identify potions, whether they were brewed correctly, and that there were several ways to make them more palatable, something that Snape seemed to go out of his way to avoid.

When he recovered, Erika quietly remarked, "Harry, if you need some help with your course-work, or anything else, I'll be around to help, as well as my Coven-Sister. Our door is always open to you, Lord Potter."

He knew there was much more going on than an Assistant Professor offering her assistance, although what exactly that would be will be revealed in time. He nodded, smiled in appreciation of her offer and headed to the Great Hall for lunch. Even with the potion, which allowed him to walk normally, he knew he needed some food in him. He had spent a lot of magic in his sparring match with Hit-Witch Ewer.

* * *

As was becoming the norm, he sat at his place at the head of the Gryffindor table, with Luna, Neville and Ron around him. They were discussing the various sparring matches with Luna, with several comments from Neville and Ron about Harry's spar with the new Assistant Professor.

The conversation was relaxed and Luna seemed to be looking forward to when she and the other Fifth-Years were to have their Defense class. Things seems to be going normal until the entrance doors burst open and several people marched into the Great Hall.

Harry signed and thought, /_Whenever my life gets normal, something seems to always happen_./ He turned around in his seat a bit and saw what was going on. He quickly got out of his chair, with his wand at ready and a frown upon his face.

Leading the party was Dolores Umbridge, with several Ministry Aurors accompanying her. She stomped towards him, yelling at him, "You've done it now, boy! Disrupting the very nature of things! Corrupting magic itself! We won't have it!"

Harry just looked at the Senior Undersecretary of the Minister with contempt upon his face and calmly asked her, "Now, what insanity are you muttering about now?" He had purposely omitted any honorific or personalized address in his statement to her. It was a clear insult and statement on his part.

Several of the Traditionalist students gasped in surprise and three of the four Aurors drew their wands. The three Aurors with their wands drew looked nervous, and alternating between looking at Lord Potter and Senior Undersecretary Umbridge. The fourth had a smirk on her face and unlike her fellow Aurors, her hands were empty. She slowly went to her partners and whispered into their ears. After which, each Auror lowered their wand and relaxed. They also took several steps away from Umbridge, showing they did not support her.

Umbridge did not notice the Aurors abandonment, as she continued to confront Harry. Her voice was that of an adult talking to a slow-witted child as she said, "Why taking part in a non Ministry-approved Heritage Ritual." She added, clearly not understanding such a concept, "With a useless Mud-blood of all things!"

Harry grinned at her and calmly quoted, "Ministry approved?"

Upon seeing Harry's grin, the four Aurors and the Hogwarts students moved further away to make to put some distance between them as well as using several of the House Tables as physical barriers between themselves and Umbridge.

Not understanding the situation she found herself in, Umbridge thinking she had finally gotten through to Potter stated, "Yes, everything deals with Magic has to be approved by the Ministry **for** Magic. It's what the Ministry is for! Non-Ministry civilians can't possibly understand..." She continued on explaining the glory of the Ministry for Magic.

In a ritual voice, Harry asked, "Dolores Umbridge, you are telling me that the Ministry has to _approve_ Heritage Rituals and what the Houses can do?"

"Of course," Umbridge remarked as if it was obvious.

Harry shook his head as Umbridge not realizing what was about to befall her as she started to explain in a somewhat sane voice how important it was for the Ministry to control every facet of magic to ensure the purity of Magic and the glories of the Ministry.

Harry ritually intoned, "For daring to interfere in the matter of the Houses, I call Judgment upon you! If found guilt, may your name be erased from the Book of Witches!"

Upon Harry's pronouncement, several people screamed in fear. Others began to whisper asking what was going on, only to be silenced by the Traditionalists.

The entire Great Hall seemed to fill with a sense of powerful magic.

Several glowing Seals of Solomon appeared, one set above Harry and Umbridge's head and another seat appeared underneath their feet.

The Seal of Solomon was a circle, with an inscribed six-pointed star, comprised of two over-lapping triangles oriented in opposite directions. There were various runes inscribed around the triangles and the circle.

Everyone, including Harry, could only stare open-mouthed as the Seal above Dolores's head shattered as a large foot came crashing down upon Umbridge. The foot seems to swipe its sole against the floor and then return from whence it came. The Seal that was underneath Umbridge was clear shattered and Umbridge herself had fallen through to the Hell that the portal that the Seal had protected went to.

From the hole in the ground, voices of young children cried out for justice against the various heinous crimes that Umbridge had committed against them. Among the Hogwarts students, the scars left by the blood-quill used in their detentions with Umbridge started to glow. Each of the scars vanished into a puff of smoke. The smoke then followed down after Umbridge. A giant hand came out of the Seal above and replaced the bottom Seal. The giant hand then set a rolled-up parchment upon the ground before Harry. A Seal appeared in the hand as it retracted itself back through the portal it had come out of, thus, sealing up the portal. A second later, all four Seals of Solomon disappeared as if nothing had happened.

He picked up the scroll, knowing it would contain a list of all the crimes that Umbitch had committed and read it aloud, using the Voice of Potter. The disgust and contempt that such a vile, petty person had been allowed into such a high-office without any restrain or check was clearly heard. "For such high-treason against the innocent and Magic itself," Lord Potter declared formally. "She-Who-Shall-No-Longer-Be-Named shall be removed from the Book of Witches."

Upon completion of the reading of Judgment scroll, the scroll duplicated itself, and he handed the duplicate scroll to the female Auror and instructed the female Auror that never drew her wand, "I see you, Auror Whitney. I charge you with delivering this scroll to Auror Bones."

Several at the Hufflepuff students, minus Susan Bones, muttered a bit angrily about the apparent lack of proper address towards Madame Lady Amelia Bones, Hufflepuff House alumni, Head of House Bones, and Director of the Department for Magical Law Enforcement within the Ministry for Magic. They did not understand Harry how he was honoring the work she had done with her life as an Auror, whether in the field or behind a desk, as well as, they did not know how he had saved Amelia and Susan Bones during the summer from Riddle's attack.

He ignored it and continued with, "The two of you are to then witness its archiving, Auror Whitney."

"So be it, my Lord," Auror Whitney formally replied. There was a flash of magic, signifying the acceptance of the ritual instructions and an oath to fulfill them. With that, she and the other Auror left the Great Hall to return to the Ministry.

He looked around the Great Hall, noticing the looks of awe and fear directed towards him, so he went off to the kitchens to finish his lunch in peace. As he left, he made sure that his pace was measured and sure, to ensure that he hid the sadness and hurt within him.

Upon arriving in the kitchen, all the House-Elves stopped what they were doing and asked him how they could serve him. It was typical House-Elf behavior, which he had just accepted as "that's how they are". He had come to understand House-Elves better after bonding with Dobby and Winky over the summer. The three had spent several hours discussing House-Elves, their society, and their magic.

He took the opportunity to engage the various House-Elves in conversation, asking for clarification of something that he had not had an opportunity to discussion with his Elves, as well as learning how the House-Elves lived and worked at Hogwarts.

It was an enlightening and alien conversation for him.

* * *

The looks continued during NEWTs Charm class, so he took his supper in the kitchen again. After dinner, he retired to the Room of Requirements to relax, away from everyone. He also gathered several items that he had stored there to move them to the Chamber of Secrets later.

He heard the door to the Room open and felt Neville enter. Since he knew Neville was there, he was not surprised when he heard Neville said, "I'd thought I'd find you here."

The Room was set similar to the Gryffindor Common Room, with but a few differences. Those were the lack of other Grffindors; the color theme was more subdue with calming with shades of blue and silver mixed with softer shades of red and color; and the room itself appeared to be smaller, yet spacious, giving the room a cozy feel to it. There were several cauldrons with potions in various stages in several of the Room's corners and text books open and floating around various locations.

He was not sure how to explain his various experiments and independent studies to Neville as he turned around to face him. But his mind can to a halt upon seeing Neville, or rather what he was wearing.

Neville Longbottom was wearing formal Family robes; which were made from expensive fabrics and charmed to fit the wearer properly, there were various patches upon the robes that meant something to the Longbottoms, but not much to him. In addition to wearing the formal robes, he was also kneeled on upon his knees with his head bowed in submission.

A sense of worry and confusion settled over Harry. Which grew as Neville formally said, "Lord Potter, all that I am is because of you." He paused for a moment and then continued, "Every Lord needs vassals... I..."

Harry did not like where this was heading and tried to counter with, "You did all the work. We all need help from time to time."

Neville was blushing but determined to continue. He then related a few tales of how back in their fifth year, couple of then Seventh Year witches had tried to bully the Longbottom Heir into _opening_ them or tried to bind him outright to them as their boytoy. All were very close calls that only failed because of Harry's unknowingly interference. And that in the past couple of weeks, almost every witch in Seventh-Year have been hitting on him to get him to _open_ them. Until his work with Harry with the D.A., most had assumed him to be a squib but from an influential House that could be easily manipulated, now that he stood with Harry that opinion had been radically changed after the Ministry Incident.

Harry did make a few connections. He realized that exactly was going on in those few of situations where he had inadvertently saved Neville from as well as why the several of the older Gryffindor witches had sent Neville disappointing looks from time to time. He had, back then, assumed it was just a case of schoolyard bullying as the old-Neville was an easy target. He had made it a point to confront those witches and for them to stop picking upon his friend, Neville.

But it was only now, as Neville pointed it out, recalling Hermione's warning and research, that he realized that he and those older witches were having two somewhat different conversations.

"You do realize what you're asking me," Harry had to ask, trying to express that he did not want this.

"Please, my L-... Harry," Neville responded. There was a bit of desperation in his voice.

"But, it's too much," Harry answered. "You're basically asking to become a slave... A vassal, which in this case is not much different.

"You'd be completely under my control, Neville. I would control all aspects of your life: whether you can perform magic or not, who'd you marry or not, whether you have children and how many, and even who'd you be aroused by."

"Whatever my Lord wishes, I will do," Neville formally stated.

"As you may or may not know, Neville," Harry continued, ignoring Neville's statement for now. "I am also the Head of House Black, or rather House Potter will be absorbing House Black. Anyway... both the Lestrange and Malfoy contracts are broken. If you're one of my vassals, Neville, there is a good chance that I might have to marry you off to Bellatrix." Harry looked pointedly at Neville, hoping he would come to his senses. Neville's proposition was a permanent solution to a short-term problem. Once sworn, forever sworn.

Neville swallowed nervously, but formally intoned, "Whatever my Lord requires, I will do."

Not wishing to back out of it, Neville believing this was his own chance began to recite the Oaths of a vassal to his Lord, which Magic compelled Harry to reply to, either in acceptance or rejection.

Harry knew that Neville would not survive his rejection, so he had no choice but to accept Neville's oath.

The ceremony ended with Harry tapping his wand against Neville's forehead, heart and groin. There was a flash of light that temporarily blinded him. When his vision cleared, Neville was standing upright with a smile upon his face. A weight seemed to have lifted from Neville's shoulders. Formally, he said, "Thank you, my Lord."


	9. Chapter 9

Bonds of Magic, 9  
Part 09  
#include std_disclaimer/alternate_universe  
#include std_disclaimer/harry_potter  
Version: 2010_08_03_01  
Yahoo!Groups: **Z**axxon's **B**eta **R**eader **L**ist (ZBRL)

* * *

As Harry left the Room of Requirements on the seventh floor and headed towards the Chamber of Secrets' entrance on the second floor, he was not in a good mood. He was unhappy how Neville was using him as a crutch. But, in all honesty, had not he, himself, had done the same with Dumbledore for the first five years he had been at Hogwarts? Of course, he never pledged himself to Dumbledore, no matter what others thought.

Still, it might not have been so bad, had Neville not turned into a chatter box about the various Wizard lore and folk-tales about one's Liege-Lord and their trusty Vassals saving the world, time and time again. It did give him several topics to research when Hermione will awake up tomorrow morning.

He was a bit sorry that he lost his temper with Neville, telling him to shut-up and go to bed, which Neville did as he did not have a choice in the matter. Surprisedly, Neville was not mad at him; he actually thanked him for taking care of him.

To paraphrase Ron, he thought, /_Wizards are mental_/. That he, himself, was a wizard, thus including himself, was not completely loss to him.

He was not so far into his own thoughts that he did not feel Susan Bones and Hannah Abbott trailing behind him. He knew that Susan had taken to shadowing him through the hallways since the start of the term, sometimes with Hannah and some times not. He figured that she was working up the courage to talk to him about Riddle's attack upon her family manor over the summer, where he had rescued her and her Aunt from almost certain death.

/_And such a good deed, of course, did not go unpunished_,/ he thought sarcastically. While researching with Hermione, he had come to realized that there were greater consequences for his actions over the summer, beyond the obvious life-debts that both owed him. Amelia Bones, in addition to being the Director of the Ministry's Department of Magical Law Enforcement, was the Head of the House Bones, and Susan Bones was her Heir, as Amelia did not have any children of her own. So he had not only saved them individually, he had saved their House, one of the dozen of remaining Elder Houses of the Realm. The Elder Houses of the Realm were those families that had established the Empire of Avalon after the Fall of Atlantis and those families that came after. Houses Emrys and Pendragon were among the youngest of the Elder Houses. Those Houses called _Most Ancient_ only dated back to the time after the Fall of Camelot and included the Founders' Families and their Children. Those families that came after that were called just _Ancient_. Those that came after the Ancient Houses were called the Younger Houses, which included many of the families that founded the Ministry over four hundred years ago.

So both Amelia and Susan Bones owed him more than life-debts, and add in the fact that all three of them were unwed, they were witches and he a wizard, also complicated such things as well. Traditionally, when a single mage had proven him or herself to be another single's protector, marriage was not far away. So he now knew why neither withed had dressed after he had healed them. They had plenty of time to do so while he looked over the Manor Wards.

Still, the research into such traditions and situations, did explain why Amelia had been so ... submissively, for the lack of a better term towards him and had done everything he asked from her, include his somewhat sarcastic remark to clean up her department, and producing Ministry-Restricted books and items that he requested.

He signed, stopped, and waited to see if Susan would finally approach him or not to discuss what had happened. As he waited to see what Susan would do, he used his meditation techniques to calm himself.

It took a few moments, but Susan Bones had finally started to walk towards him. Each step was small and unsure, but taken none the less.

He was somewhere relieved that Susan Bones was not wearing anything seductive or sexy, but rather the regulation Hogwarts Student Uniform, although, the inner robe seemed to be very snug around her very ample chest. While Hermione's _trick_ had taken the _edge_ off female nudity, he really did not want to see what might happen had Susan's _talents_ been on display again and he without any battle adrenaline going throughout his system or task to focus on.

He had known since summer that the rumor of Susan's having the biggest chest in their year, two above and two below was true. Despite a few snide comments from Hermione, he also knew Susan's breasts and nipples were very sensitive, especially for their size.

When she got within ten meters of Harry, Susan Bones called out as if she had just noticed him, "Wait up, my l... Harry."

Hannah Abbott, he saw, was wearing the proper Hogwarts Student uniform, which gave no hint to the figure underneath it. He admits, he was a bit curious, every guy above puberty was, but he was not that interested in Hannah herself to investigate.

With several silent gestures, Susan tried to indicate that she wished to talk to him alone, but wanted Harry to be the one to send Hannah away. She was concentrating on Harry so much to get her message that she was surprised when Hannah called out in a hurt voice, "Suzy!"

"Eep," Susan let out a surprised squeak.

Hannah in a hurt voice said, "Suzy, if you didn't want me to come with you, you should have said something when we were in the Common Room."

Susan looked down towards her feet with a sad, guilty look upon her face unable to say anything.

"Hannah," Harry mentioned softly. "Susan probably wants to talk to me about what happened over the summer... and it's probably hard enough with you here as well, let alone anyone else that's around. It's close to curfew, Hannah. So why don't you head back to your Common Room, Susan and I will talk, and I'll escort her back there."

Hannah looked between Susan's nodding her head and Harry's calm expression and back again. She had an uncertain look and just stood there.

Lord Potter signed and stated in a gentle but firm voice, "Miss Abbott, return your Common Room. Miss Bones will join you when I'm done with her. Miss Bones, come with me." With that, he walked off towards an unused classroom.

Without hesitation, Hannah Abbott headed back to her Common Room, where she planned on waiting for friend, who had a lot of explaining to do, and Susan Bones walked after her Lord.

* * *

"What are you doing?" Harry asked of a disrobing Susan, after he had finished casting several privacy and security wards around the abandoned classroom somewhere on the Fourth Floor. The words had left his mouth before his brain could stop them. He really did not want to deal with a nude Susan, especially as unlike before, he had a very good idea what he could do with a gal.

Susan was in the process of removing the Inner Student Robe, which was open, showing that she was, in the Wizarding Tradition, not wearing anything underneath as various charms woven into the robe took care of many of the same things as Muggle underwear did. Her nipples were clearly visible and erect. She also had a small patch of red hair above her fleshy wand-sheath, where Hermione's only hair was upon her head.

He was a bit surprised to discover that he was actually disappointed that Susan was not wearing high-heel shoes. She did have nice legs, appealing hips and thighs, and he could see how breasts like Susan's could be compared to cantaloupes. On her small frame, they had the appearance of being even larger than they actually wear. He knew that Susan would allow him to measure them, if he so wished, as well as use them for his pleasure much as Hermione would, but he really had other things to get done.

He did notice that his question had caught Susan off-guard, and she was now looking at the floor, embarrassed, feeling rejected and unsure of herself. Yet, she made no move to cover her witch'ly attributes.

He cupped her chin in his right hand and lifted her chin up so she would be looking at him. In a strong, yet gentle voice, he stated, "Susan, you are a beautiful witch. I am sorry, until just recently I was ignorant of a lot of things many adults should have made sure I knew before our Fourth Year but didn't.

"Of course, our situation is complicated one. Both of our Houses existed long before the Founders' were ever named. Both you and your Aunt are directly involved and owe me a life debt for each of you and the other. Your Aunt is your Head, you are her Heir, and you both are the last of your House, as am I."

Harry realized that he needed something to _prove_ himself so he gently leaned forward and kissed Susan softly thus deepening the bonds that already existed between from the summer. Looking into her eyes, he continued, "By Tradition, I should claim both of you, but if I did that, House Bones would be gone, and the World would be poorer for it. Your Aunt understands this, and based on the weekly reports she has been sending me, she has something planned.

"Regardless of what she has planned, I can and will _open_ you." Seeing her expression, he added gently, "Just not tonight. While there isn't much to the _Opening_ Ritual, there is some preparation work that needs to be done beforehand. So we'll perform the ritual next week. Is that okay with you, Suzy?" He smiled at her, trying to reassure her that he was not intentionally brushing her off and that he was taking his responsibilities for her and her Aunt seriously.

Not trusting her voice, Susan just nodded her head. She could feel his emotions as they pertained to her. She was a bit surprised by them, as she had thought he had been ignoring her and Wizarding Tradition, either way though, she really did not have much of a choice. After all, Harry could legal do anything he wished to her and her Aunt. That he was willing to _open_ her magic-core, something that she feared she would have only dreamed of. Or worse, had to deal with those old geezers that Ministry jokingly call _Openers_.

Maybe she was being greedy, but she wanted... no, needed something more between Harry and herself. She knew the strengthening of the bonds between them that came from Harry's kiss was temporary, fading as soon as the two separated. The bonds between them was not something she wished to lose, so she fell to her knees making sure to rub her breasts against his body as she moved down his body. She was determined to build a more permanent bond between them, and the surest was to do so was intercourse, which Harry said he would do next week. The next best thing would be oral sex, which is what she attempted.

Unlike Hermione Granger, who had studied dozens of Muggle sex manuals and a couple of Wizarding sex magic book, nor unlike Narcissa Black, who had several decades of experiences where her life literally depended upon her oral skills, young Susan Bones did not have any true knowledge of oral sex. She had overheard several older Hufflepuff witches making some comments about it, and that is what she went with.

Thus, Susan's attempts were poorly executed, at best, somewhat painful for Harry, at worst, but he knew he had to allow her to continue. He did give her several tips and suggestions on caring for his fleshy-wand. After a while, the bonds between were strengthen in a more permanent fashion.

Susan had a smile upon her face for her accomplishment as she could feel the bonds between them strengthen even more. She felt Harry's hands upon her naked body as well as how her naked body felt to Harry as he helped her to stand up. She had tears in her eyes, which Harry gently dried with a charm. While she had not fulfilled her goal in confronting him, she did have a feeling of accomplishment.

She was a bit lost in the sensations running through her. She had thought she should have done a better job in pleasing her Lord, but such would only improve with practice. And Susan Bones planned to get lots and lots of practice in pleasing her Lord when she could.

While Susan was analyzing her feelings, Harry cast several cleaning charms upon her, he also cast several Witch'ly Hygiene charms, including the bra-charm, and then dressed her back into her robes. He then escorted her to the Hufflepuff House's Common Room. He felt it was the gentlemanly think

As Lord Potter expression clearly shown that he was not in the mood to be stopped along the way, those that did witness them walking along the corridors wisely left them alone.

Just before the entrance portal to her common room, Harry pulled Susan close, and gave her a gentle kiss. As he kissed her, he massaged her ass-cheeks softly. He then whispered into her ear, "You are a lovely young witch, Susan Bones. And I will take care of you as best I can."

Without prompting on Susan's part, nor receiving a password, the entrance portal opened and Harry partly guided, partly pushed Susan through, where Hannah Abbott and several other of Hufflepuff House, mostly fourth through seventh year witches, were waiting for her. Not that Harry saw this.

Future historians will point to this night as the turning point in the War as Susan told her fellow Hufflepuff House-mates of Lord Potter's generosity, kindness, and care of his vassal that night and Hermione Granger dreamed of her future with her Lord and her new place within the Wizarding World.

* * *

Harry got out of bed with a smile upon his face.

Since the Heritage Ritual, Hermione Granger had been so filled up with magic that there was literally no room for any coherent thought. During that time, all Harry got from her was her sense of self, which seemed to fluctuate between some mousey little girl and a skeletal woman that wore too much make-up. He was a bit surprised to learn through their bond that the "mousey little girl" was how Hermione saw herself within her own mind and the "skeletal woman" was what she thought guys wanted a beautiful woman to be as shown in various Muggle magazines.

To him, Hermione was Hermione. No more. No less.

In doing so, he became her anchor in the magical maelstrom that she found herself in, stabilizing what her appearance and attitude should be.

But last night, Hermione's mind was able to begin to function beyond mere just existing. She had several dreams, which she unknowingly broadcasted to Harry. Dreams that were filled with various fantasies and desires she had for him.

He would not have pegged Hermione Granger for a fan of romance novel genre, but two witch'ly romance novels, To Free My Wizard and Captive Witch, were key components of her fantasies. To Free My Wizard was a romance novel whose plot was a bit too close to his own situation with Hermione as the protagonist, while Captive Witch fit his situation with Susan Bones, although fortunately Riddle had not kept her and her Aunt a prisoner for long as Riddle had wanted to be relative quick in dealing with them.

It also was surprisingly, for Harry, that several other witches had starring roles in her fantasies including him.

Hermione seemed to be of the opinion that as her Lord, he could enter her dorm-room. Her fantasies within her dorm-room involved either group sex with various witches or those same witches merely watching them as they had sex.

Even though he was now horny and had a couple of available witches, he went about his regular morning routine, although spending a bit more time going over Amelia's reports to him.

He summoned Dobby to request breakfast for himself and Hermione to be served within the Chamber of Secrets in an hour or so, and headed to the Hospital Wing.

* * *

Harry just watched Hermione's sleeping form with a smile on his face. Madam Pomfrey had placed Hermione's bed a bit away from the others giving her some privacy and protection. She was wearing only a sheet and blanket so that no one could see her accidentally.

Even through the blanket, it was obvious that she had undergone some changes. The most obvious one was the increase in breast size. Before, she had been a large B-cup to small C-cup in size, easily able to fit in his hands, but now, she was easily a large D-cup to small Double D-cup, so that there was more breast flesh for him to play with. Not as much as Susan, but a bit more than before. Not so obvious change was that her legs were several inches longer as well as her hair grew out as well.

Harry cast several privacy and protection wards around them, keying Madam Pomfrey into them. He knew Madam Pomfrey was going about her rounds, merely to give him the illusion of privacy with his Hermione. He used the levitation charm to remove the blanket and sheet, charmed them clean and refreshen, and sent them aside for Madam Pomfrey to use again.

He took a moment to enjoy the peaceful look upon Hermione's face and the beauty of the female form. With her form fully exposed it was obvious that the excess magic had done more than it worked upon her magic system but actually spilled over to her physical body as well as her muscle tone was athletic in appearance and her skin had a well tanned tone to it. He noticed that several birthmarks and spots of hair from before were now gone. Her waist was a bit smaller, narrower, while her hips were spread out a bit more, giving Hermione a classical hour-glass shape.

He could not resist and ran his hand gently between her legs, which she unconsciously spread apart to give him more access to her fleshy wand-sheath. She started to moan a bit in pleasure from his touch. After a few strokes, which got his fingers wet, he concentrated a bit and drew twelve small, concentric, clockwise circles over her womb, paused for a moment, and then drew a single, counter-clockwise, concentric circle.

He then place a kissed upon her lips, while gently massaging her between her legs. He leaned back a bit, still caressing her as he whispered, "Welcome back, my Hermione."

"Greetings, my Lord. Did it work?" she asked softly.

He allowed her to sit up and replied, "Just as we planned. Although, we took a chance putting a bit more magic into the ritual than was necessary. Fortunately, we lucked out and it seems your body used the extra magical energy to modify your body a bit.

"As for your Family Magic, we won't completely know until your grandchildren come of age and perform the Heritage Ritual themselves to see what form it will take."

Hermione just hugged him, gave him a kiss and replied, "Thank you, my Lord." A thought seem to strike her and made her sad. She stared out at her feet.

He cupped her chin with his right hand, tilting her head up and asked, "What's wrong?"

"I won't... We don't... There isn't any more reason to," she began, bit embarrassed. She had enjoyed being naked for him and having sex with him these past couple of weeks. She did not want that to end, but she saw no reason for them to continue as they had. She was too embarrassed by her need and desire to voice it out-loud.

He could feel her doubts and insecurities running through her mind, even though he did not understand them or where they had come from, but trying to assure her, he remarked, "As your _Opener_, it's my duty to ensure you're ready for a magical marriage and that that entails. Not to mention my responsibilities as your Lord and Master."

"Oh?" she prompted hopefully. Signs of arousal were obvious to anyone that happened to be looking at her.

With a smirk on his face, he stated, "As my family would like to say, I've _opened_ a new world for you. Of course, I should prepare you for such a life as well. And while there might be others, you are my best friend and first, my Hermione."

Hermione smiled up to Harry.

"Excuse me, my lord," Madam Pomfrey interrupted. "But if you could step aside for a bit, I can check Madam Granger out so she can be discharged." She had a smile upon her face and made shooing motion with her hand. Once he was a bit of distance away, she took her wand out and cast several charms on and around Hermione.

"Congratulations and let me the first to welcome to the coven, Madam Granger," Poppy Pomfrey told her. "It does my heart good to see such a young witch following our traditions. Really was a shame when Albus phased out the Wizarding Traditions class a decade ago. One of many lost opportunities..."

Blushing a bit, Hermione replied, "Thanks." Then Pomfrey's words fully registered with her, so she added, "Coven? What coven?"

Smiling, Madam Pomfrey answered, "Why the Coven of Witches _Opened_ by a Potter. The membership requirement should be obvious, my dear." She smiled down upon Hermione; she concentrated slightly and then said, "You should be able to feel a bond between us, which is the coven-bond between coven-members. Thus, you and I can feel any witch that's _open_ by a Potter. The bond is stronger between those _opened_ by the same Potter, but the bond exists for any Potter _Opener_. The bond is known by many, so you may be called to testify if a witch had been _opened_ by a Potter or not. I've been called four times since I was _opened_ back in my Seventh-Year. That the bond is a coven-bond, however, is only known within the coven itself. Coven-magic will prevent you from even hinting about it to non-coven or non-Potter people."

Hermione did feel the bond between herself and Poppy Pomfrey. She wondered if this is what it might have felt like to have an older sister. She began, "Madam..."

Smiling, Poppy said, "You can call me by my given name, which is Poppy, Hermione dear. And you're welcome. If you have any questions about the coven, the bonds involved, or anything about the Wizarding World that Lord Potter hasn't gotten to yet, you're more than welcome to come see me, my dear. Us, Potter-Opened Witches stick together. Always have, and always will."

Hermione smiled back with tears of happiness in her eyes giving them a shine to them. She had felt Poppy's words and the truth behind them from the coven-bond and Magic itself to her truthfulness. While she was more than willing to stand next to Harry alone, it was great to know that she truly did not have to do it all alone.

Poppy paused a moment to collect her thoughts and then said, "Just as a warning, my dear. There will be many who will be comparing you to Lily Evans, both of you being Muggle-born and all. Such a comparison, unfortunately, will not be kind to you. Unjustly, many believed that it was Lily that kept James from following his Father's footsteps and it was she that prevented James from _opening_ any witch up when he was Head Boy and thereafter. I know that not to be completely true, as I do know that James did use the Head Boy room to _open_ a couple of witches, and I can't say for sure if he _opened_ any witch after graduating. Although to be fair, James and Lily were very busy after graduating, and when Mister Potter arrived..." She trailed off in memory.

Seeing that she was lost in memory, Hermione prompted her, "Poppy, are you okay?"

"Just remembering the good times, my dear," Poppy replied. "I should also point out that Mister Potter has only told the school that he stood as your Liege-Lord for your Heritage Ritual and did not mention anything about _opening_ you."

Hermione frowned and hoped that Harry was not embarrassed or ashamed to have _opened_ her.

Poppy seeing and understanding Hermione's facial expression, quickly answered, "It's not that Mister Potter is ashamed or anything about it, it's just an irritating Potter trait. One of many you will learn about and have to deal with. Having known four generations of Potters, I can honestly say such traits do seem to be heritable.

"The reason that I bring it up, is the fact that I and many others would love to see Mister Potter follow Lord Potter's, his grandfather, steps. With Lord Potter's passing over twenty years ago, the level of... competence among _Openers_ has taken a huge broom-dive. In fact, the only _Openers_ around these days are those old-geezers at the Ministry and a handful of Coven-_Openers_, who are restricted to _opening_ only those witches within their covens."

Hermione frowned again. She realized that Poppy and some unknown group, possibly their coven, really wanted for her Harry to become a Professional _Opener_. When she had read about such back in her Fourth-Year, she could not help thinking them to be Gigolos like those in various romance novels. She could not really see Harry doing that on a regular basis, especially, given all the work and effort she had to do to get him to _open_ her. She could not see her Harry doing so for some strange witch.

Poppy interrupted her thoughts with, "While we don't expect you to go advertising how good Mister Potter made it for you, please, when asked, please answer the witch that asked and be honest in your reply. I know many Muggle-borns don't wish to talk about the _Opening_ Ritual, at all. But I must say that your silence on the matter will only hurt Mister Potter."

"_That's dirty pool_," Hermione thought to herself, using her love of her Harry against her. Of course, she had only planned on discussing the _Opening_ Ritual with Ginny and maybe, Luna, but she had no intentions of discussing it with anyone else. While she was not ashamed and had in fact highly enjoyed the sex she had had with her Lord, she was not the type of girl that goes blabbering on and on about her sex life, even if Harry was that good. With a grimace upon her face, she did answer, "I will keep that in mind, Poppy."

Smiling back, Poppy replied, "I'm sure you will, my dear. I do know that you and Mister Potter think of the whole _Boy-Who-Lived_ thing is silly and a bunch of non-sense. I just want to point out that such thing was only possible because he's a Potter. While Mister Potter will deny it, he is, for all practically purposes, our uncrowned King and Chosen Representative of Magic itself. The Eldest House of Potter has always been nobility within our world by their actions and deeds, and Magic, Fate or some Higher Beings has seen fit to add upon that with Mister Potter. He will need you by his side to help through it and afterwards."

"Afterwards?" Hermione found herself prompting.

Poppy grinned and remarked, "Probably even during, my dear. You and I both know that Mister Potter takes on too much on his alone. He will need someone by his side, even in his bed, to ensure that he relaxes and doesn't over do things."

Hermione just looked at Poppy, not quite blushing, but understanding and even a bit fantasizing, which brought a smile to her face.

"Hem, hem," a sound interrupted them.

The two witches turned towards the noise and saw Harry smiling at them.

"Don't do that, you said just like..." Hermione began but found she could not continue. She tried several times to name "Dolores Umbridge" but Magic would not let her name her.

"Like the Toad-that-Shall-not-be-Named?" Harry inquired playfully.

"Harry James Potter!" Hermione exclaimed her displeasure at not knowing what had happened while she was in a magical coma, especially as it must have included some justice finally heading in Miss Toad-Bitch's direction.

Lord Potter looked at his Hermione with his eyes narrowed. Madam Pomfrey gasped and took some steps away from her. Harry felt that his playfulness did not warrant being called using his full name. Although, he did understand that Hermione still wanted to know everything and had yet to realize that such was impossible. Still, using his full name was a bit much. He held his gaze upon her until she lowered her head in submission and as an apology.

Harry merely stated, "Miss Toad-Bitch, nice name, Hermione. Miss Toad-Bitch tried to interfere with a House-matter and was judged by Magic. She was, of course, found wanting, and will no longer be a problem for anyone."

Poppy snorted a bit and remarked, "A bit of an understatement, my lord."

Lord Potter turned to Poppy to ensure that she did not say anything about the banished Umbridge. Now was not the time to discuss such matters. Hermione would run to the library and run herself ragged looking for answers, not something someone just awoken from a coma should be doing.

Poppy figured that out and wisely kept silent. Although, a part of her was curious if Harry would actually take her over his knee like his grandfather would when she misbehaved. Sure, she was semi-retired at the age of eighty-eight, but she knew that would not stop Lord Potter from treating her like a child if she acted like one. /_Although, being over the knee of a young man like Mister Potter might not be a bad thing_,/ Poppy thought to herself.

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey, for watching over my Hermione," Lord Potter stated formally, causing both witches to blush a bit.

Harry cast the bra-charm and a dressing-charm over Hermione's nude form, took her hand, and leaded her out of the Hospital Ward.

Poppy looked towards the retreating form of the two and when she was sure that Harry could not hear her, she replied formally, "Blessed be, my Lord and Master. May your sword be sharp, your shield is strong, and your mirror shows the truth."


	10. Chapter 10

Bonds of Magic  
Part 10  
#include std_disclaimer/alternate_universe  
#include std_disclaimer/harry_potter  
Version: 2011_02_13_01  
Beta-Reader: chichi.  
**Z**axxon's **B**eta **R**eader **L**ist: yahoo!groups: zbrl

* * *

Harry and Hermione made it to the entrance of the Chamber of Secrets in Myrtle's bathroom without incident. He hissed, "Open," got a semi-crazy idea, smirked to himself, took Hermione's hand and magically willed himself and her into the main chamber thus by-passing the long (and boring) passages to get there.

He halfheartedly expected Hermione to protest that what he just did was not possible within Hogwarts and its legendary wards, to which he was ready to point out that technically what he did was not within Hogwarts but within the Chambers of Secrets, whose wards he was tied to. Which meant that Dumbledore and those he wished could Apparition as well, as Headmaster, he held the Hogwarts' wards just as he held the Chamber's wards. Instead, she was silent, with a slight smirk on her face, as if she knew what Harry's thoughts upon her response and his were already. She did look around in curiosity.

He found himself slightly surprised at Hermione's quietness, but he had a few things to set up. Against the wall, off to the side, there was a typical table waiting for him. Unlike a typical table however, its top had been treated with a potion that left a residue that would absorb magic without harming what it was coating. It was used by many to protect surfaces that young wizards and witches would practice their magic upon to protect said item from said wizard or witch. Thus, it was a very popular potion within Hogwarts and many Wizarding homes with children. Of course, with the potion upon the table, one cannot use magic to move it, so Harry was stuck moving it himself. Which he pushed the table, it had wheels, to a corner of the Chamber. He summoned a box of feathers that Dobby had gathered for him and placed one on the top of the table.

As he turned away from the table and towards Hermione, he pulled her wand out of his magic-pocket where he kept it and then proceeded to trip over his own feet in surprise. While he was busy setting up everything, Hermione had completely undressed herself and was in the process of stretching out much like a cat did after a nap. Her exercise movements seemed to highlight her womanly curves and gave her an undeniable sexual allure. He felt quite a bit of lust building within himself for her but pushed it down so they could get back to what they needed to do. There would be plenty of time later for play.

Hermione had a mischievous smile upon her face upon seeing Harry's reactions, both the tripping and the big lump in his pants at her actions. Several scenarios from her Daddy's _secret stash_ of Otrera romance novels flashed through her mind as she looked him. She decided to keep it simple, so she sashayed over to him, keeping her eyes locked upon his, hoping to communicate her desires and needs with her eyes alone. When she reached him, he held out her wand towards her, but instead of merely taking it, she pressed her naked arse into his covered crotch. She then looked over her shoulder towards her lover to gauge his reaction to her, and used his arm to blindly guide her to her wand in his hand. Thus, both missed the gray smoke that escaped out of the wand as she touched it.

She was disappointed to see that Harry had snapped out of his daze and got to helping her go through the First-Year's charm curriculum. He started with the levitation charm by guided her through the wand movements and properly enunciated while controlling her magical flow to the level that it should be for a simple charm as putting too much magic into a charm does not increase the charm's overall affect but rather causes the charm to destabilize into something unpredictable. She felt his control over her magic as a gentle breeze, caressing her very being in such an intimate way she could not describe, not even herself, with mere words, and yet guiding her with the strength of steel. If not for Harry's will, she could easily lose herself in such a sensation and never return. It was a feeling she wished to have for the rest of her life. She felt the magic go through her and perform that which he had desired, causing the feather to gently rise, float for a minute, and then gently lower itself back down.

She wondered if what she felt was what a wand would feel like. The idea of Harry using her as a mere wand greatly aroused her. Her arousal was increased as he whispered gently into her ear, "Just like that. Try not to use any more magic than you felt me using for this charm."

Hermione tried to do as Harry told her, but she never had to regulated her magic before. So she easily overpowered the charm, which caused the feather to mutate into something that looked like mostaccioli and her wand to caught on fire. Seeing and feeling the heat of the magical flames, she screamed and dropped the wand in surprise.

As Harry cast a containment charm over her wand, the Chamber's wards reacted to the over-charmed feather by encasing it within a containment charm as well. The Chamber's containment charm seemed to also draw out the excess magic from the feather, somehow dissipate it, and thus returning the feather to normal.

He noticed that Hermione had started to sob and shake as the magical backlash from her overloaded wand hit her. He thought, /_What would Sirius do in such a situation?_/

So he pulled her closer and kissed her soundly.

* * *

Harry was surprisingly comfortable laying naked on his back on the hard marble floor of the Chamber of Secrets. Of course, it helped that the Chamber's floor had been enchanted with cushioning-charms and heating-charms. Although, a lot of that comfort came from the fact that his fleshy-wand was inside Hermione's lovely body, who was laying completely naked on top of him. His hands were caressing her lovely arse and lower back in a manner that she seemed to find enjoy given the sounds she was making. He could not help comparing those sounds to a cat's, as he would swear that she was purring. Or he could just be influenced by the "cat ate the cream" smile upon her lips.

With wizards and witches, there was more going on than the physical acts of pleasure. Just as his fleshy-wand was physically inside of Hermione, so too was his magic and mind was inside of her as well. It was a sensation that he had not the words to describe. It was also a sensation he hoped never to do without.

"Anytime. Anywhere," Hermione began to tell him out loud, only for her thoughts on what those words truly meant flashed through his mind and overwhelm him with their intensity drowning out anything else she was saying.

Hermione's thoughts which expressed the concepts of "anything" and "anywhere" came flooding into his mind. He was a bit surprised and amazed at their sexual content. Majority of those thoughts seem to center around the Great Hall during a meal, while others involved various classrooms during lessons. All these thoughts of Hermione had the feeling of being scripted out by her as if they were scenes from a play in which she both starred and directed. They also had shadows of other thoughts and memories attached to them that seemed to involve her father, whom she only referred to as "Daddy" in private or "John" in public, but nothing else. He was a bit puzzled by this, and also noted that she only referred to her mother as "Mother" and nothing else, private or public. It was not something he wished to pursue now.

Even if he wished to, Hermione's thoughts flashed through his mind. Her _Great Hall scene_, as he had begun to call it, was set in the Great Hall during a meal where all the students and staff were present. Not only was everyone present, but the House tables had been adjusted so that they and the Head Table could face a sixth table, which was higher than the others, lacked any seats beside it or any settings upon it. Hermione's mind supplied that such a table was a called a _catwalk_, which was not actually a table but a raised narrow platform for displaying fashion items and the people wearing them. In this fact, the item on display was Hermione herself, who was only wearing a smile, a collar, and a pair of high-heel stiletto, open-face sandal shoes. Attached to her collar was a leash that was in his right hand, which for some reason was very important fact to her. Just as important to her was the weird walk she used as she moved down the catwalk. The entire presentation, for that was what it was, had a ritualistic feel to it. Also was obvious that the presentation, especially the walk, was designed to show off a male's _attributes_ rather than a female's. She seemed to associate this display with her daddy and a few other men, but he really did not wish to abuse her trust of him to delve deeper for an explanation.

Several of the _classroom scenes_, as he called them, all basically followed the pattern of that the House Points system had been replaced with an Orgasm Reward System, where a student would receive an orgasm at the end of the class instead of points for their House and punishment would then come in the form of sexual humiliation. Most of such scenes _happened_ during one of Professor McGonagall's classes, where at the end of the class, having received several rewards owed her would go up to the Professor's desk and transfigure it to a comfortable bed. Draco would serve her and prepare her, being sexually humiliated not that it took much, for Harry's usage of her as he was to be rewarded too. Professor McGonagall would grade them on their performance as well as offer a few tips and tricks to her favorite student. Harry thought the scenario to be unrealistic, especially as Draco would probably enjoy it too much.

All the current scenarios, he noted, showed a very exhibitionistic Hermione that could surpass even the Metamorphmagus Nymphadora Tonks. He knew that the _closed Hermione_ had been, as many teenage girls were, terribly insecure and thought herself a mere _Plain Jane_, at best. At worst, she would describe herself as a creature that only Hagrid could love. He did realize through their bond that himself and his actions in binding her had alternated her own perception of herself, especially as she used to compare herself to her own mother. A woman who had been an international teenage super-model, attended a very exclusive school where she was the captain of various sports team and head student, whom even several years above and below her own year would look to for help and guidance. Hermione thought of her mother as the Amazon Queen Hippolyta made reality. Her mother had the three B's as Seamus would say, brains, brawn, and beauty, going for her and she knew how to use them.

While his mind was wandering through hers, he could feel her thoughts, and that she could feel his thoughts to a lesser degree. He could feel her pleasure, as she could feel his. He could feel the love she had for him, and she could feel his for her. He could feel her love grow into a several thoughts, one of which prompted her pelvic muscles around his fleshy-wand grip him and massage him, seeking to enhance their pleasure. After a few more moments, it all became too much for him and he ejaculated into her, which triggered her own orgasm.

After a few moments to regain their strength, Hermione had propped herself up a bit to look at the peaceful look upon her Master's face and enjoyed knowing that she had placed it there. She could also feel her Master's hot seed inside her, while unsure what type of mother she would be but she did know she wanted to bear his children, as many as she could.

Harry playfully slapped her ass-cheek to get her attention and said, "As warm and fuzzy as that makes me feel, my dear Hermione, an _opened_ witch can't get accidentally pregnant like a Muggle or a _closed_ witch could.

Hermione smiled at being _his dear_ and frown a bit until she realized something. She answered her own question with, "Because an _opened_ witch requires that both parties perform an intent-based ritual in order to become pregnant."

"And it will be a party, I'm sure," Harry joked. "That and an _Opener_ can set the _opened_ witch's menstrual cycle to: a single month, as a Muggle-born is defaulted to; a single season or once every three months, as a Witch-born is defaulted to; a single year, which is common; once in seven years, called a wizard's cycle; or allow the menstrual cycle to go completely dormant, which is not recommended. Each has its pluses and minuses. The first two should be obvious, the once a year is the most practical, and the going-dormant is the most dangerous.

"There is a ritual that can change the setting, for a lack of a better word, if need be, from one setting to another without much problems, save changing from the seven-year cycle and going-dormant settings. From those settings, there is a price to pay for the missed cycles, so the longer one waits to change a witch's setting will increase the pain involved. It had been said that Brunhilde the Beautiful became Brunhilde the Bloody Butcher after undergoing the ritual to restore her menstrual cycle from being on the dormant setting for three years.

"An opened witch can get pregnant if both parties perform the ritual, regardless of which menstrual cycle she's on, save the dormant setting. That requires a series of rituals, each of which are tied to the new moon. I set you for the yearly cycle, as it has the fewer drawbacks and there are several charms can be tied into the cycle itself, so that you will only notice a bit more sensitivity upon your birthday. Other than that, you should not notice anything nor need any witchly potions at all when you're on the yearly cycle."

Unsure of what to say, Hermione simply kissed Harry to express herself, which he returned. While he was returning her kiss, he took advantage of where his hands were and squeezed her ass-cheeks softly.

After a few moments to collect some air, he began, "Speaking of rituals, you little minx knew what you were getting in for and didn't tell me." He placed a finger upon her lips to silence her protest. He continued, "Had you told me, both of us know I wouldn't have gone through with it, especially, the deliberate magical over-load part."

Again, he placed a finger over her lips and then caressed her womanly curves and toned muscles with his finger tips and rested his hands upon her toned arse that fit comfortably into the palms of his hands. He enjoyed the feeling of her body against his, and then continued saying, "Yes, it worked out. But only because you had surrendered so much of yourself to me that I could be your center."

Hermione's eyes widen in surprise a bit, both that he had figured that out and was not as mad as she had feared he would be. She had hidden the personal effects and costs for her for performing the rituals as she had planned it out. That she had done it all for him with some bonuses for herself and her fantasies would not have been enough for him to go through with it.

"I'd ask you not to hide anything like that again from me," Harry remarked. "Only, you're incapable of doing such now. And yes, you're right, apart of me does feel... relieved, is that word, that is so. You have been my anchor through these last five years, and now, I can be yours.

"Getting back to the ritual, we were a bit lucky in that we underestimated my House's age."

"But how?" she asked bewildered, "we checked the library and could only find an accounting of the Potters dating back to the Gryffindor House records towards the beginning of Hogwarts."

"But that was in part our mistake, one of actually," he answered. "First of all, the main Hogwarts student Library, and yes I now know there are more than one libraries here, only really contains Ministry-approved books, the rest have been moved to the other libraries which most students don't currently have access too, even though they should. We know that the Ministry only acknowledges itself, Hogwarts and Merlin. The rest they ignore as best they can. We also assumed, as everyone else seems to be, that I'm the Heir of Gryffindor, which I now know for sure, I'm not. So we did not even try to look past the Founders' time or even into then either. Which only would have told us that a couple of Potters were among the very first faculty members, along with the Founders themselves.

"Even if House Potter was a thousand years old, the age of a House isn't measured in years, but in number of generations. And for the record, House Potter is over eight thousand generations old, being one of the founding Houses of Avalon, after the Fall of Atlantean Republic. So a thousand years or even a thousand Wizarding generations is way off.

Hermione gasped in surprise as the implications set in. They knew that everyone had assumed that Harry was the Heir of Gryffindor, so they had concentrated on proving that. As an Heir to one of the Most Ancient Houses, Harry would be out of Professor Dumbledore and the Ministry's reach, as the Most Ancient Houses fell under older laws than those the Ministry and Professor Dumbledore could call upon against Harry. Professor Dumbledore's House was only an Ancient House, having been started between five hundred to eight hundred year period. House Dumbledore was actually the first of the Ancient Houses. But if Harry was a Lord among the Elder Houses, and even beyond, he would be under the laws of Avalon, not the Ministry's or even the Founders'. Those figures of Muggle _mythology_ were actual very powerful Sorcerers, and probably related to Harry in various ways.

"Still, you were lucky that you had surrendered to me as much as you had," he continued. "As it was, the intentional overload was too much for you. Had I not anchored you, the magic would have overwhelmed you. But you had counted on that, and counted that the excess magic would overflow into your body, energizing it and optimizing, which it did. You took a very big risk, and I can see your thoughts on why you did it.

"Yes, I needed that push. Yes, I wouldn't have gone through with it had I'd known the risks to you that were involved. Yes, I claiming Lordship over you, was also enough for my House's Lordship to be claimed as well. No, I can't describe it, save: up until now, I've lived my life down in a valley covered in shadows with one or two people coming along to visit me for a short time; now, I stand upon a mountain with the sun shining down upon me, surrounded by relatives, sharing their wisdom and knowledge with me and helping me navigate through the flows and eddies in life and magic."

He sighed, held her close, and continued, "We knew as we researched the Heritage Ritual that the Ministry had been actively trying to make itself out as the 'Be-All, End-All' of Magical Britannia. When in fact, it's merely the gatekeeper to the actual Wizarding World, through suppressing some information and enhancing others, which those like Dumbledore have taken advantage of, for various reasons. From what I know now, those actions have several serious repercussions, which Riddle and his gang had benefited from, and are part of the reason why things are the way they are now. There were safe-guards in place to prevent a lot of what has happened, but the Ministry has undermined a lot of them.

"This knowledge from my ancestors also clears up several situations that I have been. You recall that I mentioned that I had helped Bones family when Riddle attacked them this past summer, although, I was only able to save Amelia and Susan. Which is a bit of a problem."

Before Hermione could voice her question, Harry asked it out loud, "How could saving the Director of Magical Law Enforcement and our classmate's lives be a problem?"

Hermione nodded her head, while thinking it through for herself. She did smile a bit realizing that he could _hear_ her thoughts. Or knew her really, really well. Either way, she felt a warm and full-feeling within her, and realized it was coming from between her legs. Her face had a pleased look about her.

"Well," he answered. "Amelia is the Head of House Bones, Susan is her heir, by default as there are no other Bones family members anymore, so they are the last of their House. Both owe me a life debt, which in itself isn't a problem. It's what Riddle did after defeating Amelia that's the problem, as Riddle had claimed them and their House, which he could then use them and their House's resources against us. House Bones being an Elder House, who were contemporaries of Merlin and Founding Houses of Camelot, have a lot of magic and lore that can be called upon by whoever controls House Bones. Fortunately for our side, in my defeating Riddle, his claim was transferred to me, which is the _problem_. Which was compounded by the fact that until I took my Lordship, I didn't even know what truly going on.

"I don't know what Riddle's original plan was, though it would explain several of his tactics and assaults from his first war if he done this before with other Houses, and then used their magic against the family members and the Ministry.

"Regardless, as far as Magic is concerned, Amelia and Susan Bones are, for the lack of a better words, private property, my property and my responsibility. Which, surprisingly, Amelia is happy about, insofar for herself, but a bit concerned for her niece, mostly. The thing with _spoils_, as the Bones are now, they are socially somewhere between bonded-servants, such as yourself, and full-slaves, which are public property and looked down upon. Amelia thinks that if she takes upon herself both debts, Susan can be elevated to bond-servant status, and allowed to continue Houses Bones as a House Potter vassal, similar to what Neville has done."

Feeling Hermione's surprise at his statement, he replied, "A lot has happened while you were in your magical coma adjusting to the changes the excess magic brought upon your body.

"It seems that Neville had been bullied by several Upper-Year witches and wizards, the witches were attempting to claim him and the Longbottom fortunes for themselves. I had thought they just being like gits, like Malfoy. Either way, he felt that I have been his patron and sculptor, and now that I had _claimed_ you as many thought I should, it would be a good time to formalize the _relationship_ between Neville and myself."

"But," Hermione started not even sure what feelings she was expressing. She knew that Neville had a bad time in Gryffindor House as both Harry and herself had and she had to help him from time to time with his school work and fellow Gyffindors. She had thought he had come into his own last year.

"Neville is a bonded-servant as well," he stated. "But as a wizard, he doesn't get all the benefits that you get. He's now immune to most mind-magic and pain-magic, including Imperious and Crucius Curses, has a minor psychic bond with me, a mere shade of what we have, but he doesn't have any magical increases as you do, nor can he call upon my magic like you can to boost your magic even more. No, you didn't use my magic when you overloaded your wand. You did that completely on your own.

"Your wand overloaded because your core had practically tripled in size and you were blood-bonded to your wand. Which admittedly it isn't something that wizards do, only witches. Even then, the runes on your wand should have prevented it..."

"Runes on my wand?" Hermione interrupted interested.

"Yeah," Harry answered. "A wand has three _components_, the wood, the core, and the rune array upon it. The rune array is pretty standardized, with each wand-maker or wand-crafter having their own slight variations which serves as their signature upon their creations. The actual rune array is hidden within the wand, both to protect them and to prevent others from copying them.

"It's agreed by most that while the Romans did not create wand-magic, they did perfect the science behind it. Of course, given they had thousands of years to do so and a great need for a highly structured, very formal methodology of using magic that could be taught to recruit easily and still produce results quickly. Wand-magic is one of the main reasons why Rome was a major power in the Outer Rim and lasted as long as it did."

"Outer rim?" Hermione inquired. She had the sense this was one of those tip-of-the-iceberg moments in one's life.

Harry sighed and moved the two of them into a seated position with Hermione upon his lap. She made several moans of displeasure, bordering on pain, at being disconnected from him. So he held her in arms and kisses her neck, ear, and hair until she calmed down.

"We know that the Ministry is merely the gatekeeper to the Wizarding World," he began. "But we never really looked into what the Wizarding World actually was."

He placed a finger upon her lips, which she kissed and tried to get as much skin-to-skin contact with him as she could in his lap.

"We assumed that the Wizarding World was nothing more than Wizard and Witches living with Muggles in the same towns and cities, working and playing side by side. In the Outer Rim, which is where we are, that's true. But this is only the tip.

"The truth of the matter is that Wizarding World is actually around five million years old and covers many different areas of space, time and reality. It might be older, but our record-keeping only goes back that far. Nothing is permanent or truly immortal, so the Wizarding World has had its shares of up and down, much like the Muggle World has, although, on a vastly larger scale and a quicker turn-around, relatively speaking.

"It is mind-boggling... The Wizarding World contains incalculable inhabitants stretching through several galaxies, planes of existence and parallel dimensions loosely tied together through magic and a shared recorded history of, at least, five million years. It is quite a bit of culture shock for anyone come from the Muggle-world, part of why the Ministry was created to help the transition. I have all my ancestors' memories and lore for the past half a million years, covering the fall of the Atlantean Republic, the rise and fall of the Golden and Silver Millenniums, and the rise of the three current magical kingdoms, for the lack of a better word, Avalia, Xia, and Mesopotamia, which still exist today. It's a lot to take in, I know.

"As much as they would hate to admit it, the Ministry was modeled after and influenced by the Muggles, to better interact with them. Fortunately, various Covens and Guilds have picked up the slack as the Ministry has fallen behind."

"But covens are but groups," Hermione wondered. "Guilds are but trade unions. They're just Witches and Wizards in the Wizarding World. What can they do?"

"Which a lot, actually," Harry answer. "It is true that the Covens and Guides made up of Witches and Wizards, but that's part of the misdirection that Ministry and others have been using. What the Ministry hotly denies is that one can perform magic without having to have a core within them. Of course, they also deny, for some reason, the fact that a magic-core is more than a concentration of magic within a person.

"Anyways, there are three _types_ of magic users in the world. Thus that can use the magic within, those that use the magic without, and those that can combine the two and become one with magic.

"The magic within, is us, Wizards and technically, Wizardresses. This is the Charms, Transfiguration, Enchanting, and such classes we learn at Hogwarts. Many of us have cores within ourselves, and for the record, a core isn't physically within us, it exists in another plane, but does interact with the physical body through blood and energies within the body. Vampires, Goblins, and others don't have cores but their bodies can hold some magic, which they can tap into and use.

"The magic without, in other words, they call upon magic around them, within the planet itself, from the various powers, in the very air, or some other source. Traditionally, these practicers of this magic style are called witches, regardless of gender. Those that abuse this magic are called warlocks, which in our society refers to magical warriors similar to the Muggle's military Special Air Service. House-Elves, Centaurs, and others get their magic and life-force from external sources, this is why House-Elves need to be bonded and Centaurs need to be in open forest areas. Potions, Herbology, Arithmancy, and Alchemy are classes that we learn witchcraft in, as in the full name of Hogwarts implies, not that its a co-ed school, as the Ministry would like us to believe.

"And being one with magic, that's true sorcery, a lost art. Which may or may not be a good thing. The Sorcerers of old were said to walk the planes with the easy of giants commanded the elements with the easy of dragons, and were immortal as sand. Several of my ancestors were sorcerers and sorceresses, so I know there are truths to those sayings.

"While I know you would like for me continue to about the different users of magic." He kissed her softly and then continued, "The fact is that, by calling upon external sources, even Muggles can practice witchcraft. In fact, most practicing-Witches are what the Ministry would call Muggles. They and Squibs actually make up some of the best and legendary Potion Masters and Mistresses of the past two thousand years."

"So most Covens and Guilds are made up of practicing-Witches," Hermione exclaimed, "with ties to the Muggle world that the Ministry can't touch or interfere with."

Harry kissed her and remarked, "Exactly. Until Dumbledore became Deputy Headmaster, where he dropped most of the true witchcraft classes save those within the core curriculum, which are required by the Founders' charter to be taught and no one has the authority to stop those classes. In exchange, the Ministry withdrew their special provisions involving the Covens, which Dumbledore believed was a political victory for him, not knowing that the Covens have been taking better care of themselves for the last hundred years and that their involvement with Hogwarts made up forty percent of then Hogwarts budget, which was lost to Dumbledore.

"For the record, the Ministry contributes about five percent of the current Hogwarts budget, has ninety-five say about the current curriculum, hires sixty-seven percent of our graduates and about thirty-seven percent of our school-mates' parents are Ministry employees.

"It's while at the Ministry that many learn of the rest of the Wizarding World, and left for greener pastures. So there is a high turn over at the Ministry with employee remaining for a short time, about ten or fifteen years, and then move on to a Coven or Guild in their area of interest.

"We were originally talking about wands, your wand actually. I'll need to take you to the Llangarest conclave, where I got my custom wand from. Probably need to take Narcissa with us."

"What?" Hermione exclaimed.

"Oops," Harry sheepishly mentioned. "I'd forgotten about her. Cissy..."

"_Cissy_, now?" Hermione remarked in a neutral voice. If she did not know for sure what she was feeling at the moment. She could only identify the feelings of uncertainty, sadness, and curiosity. She was a little surprise to note she was not feeling any jealousy or concern over the closeness that Harry seemed to have with Draco's mother.

"Yes," he simply answered. "When I took up my Lordship, my Family Magic reviewed everything associated with my House. Let's just say everything was in a bigger mess than we thought. Many loans have been called in by my Family Magic as I wasn't aware that I could extend them. Which is going to surprise several families as some of those loans have been extended for over several centuries. So several parties are in shock when those loans came due three days ago. Several wizards that Dumbledore had illegally _appointed_ as representatives of the various Houses and vassals under my banner will find themselves forsworn if they attempt to vote in such capacity come tomorrow's Fall Equinox sessions as they will have ignored Magic's warning that went out then too.

"The Daily Prophet got away with a lot of what it printed because my family magic was semi-dormant, concentrating on protecting me from the Durleys, which is why so many believed them. As if my family magic was _silent_, they thought it was true. But now, they will reap what they have sown a hundredfold. Skeeter is locked in her beetle animagus form for the rest of her life. The rest of the staff that could have done something, they will pay the false-witness price. The building has been leveled and never used again for _news reporting_. {"A pox has descended upon some of the Goblins in breaking the treaties that House Potter and several other of our vassal Houses have with them. Which has triggered a full investigation which has lead to a civil war among the Goblins. So of course, Gringotts Wizarding Bank has been closed for the past several days, a first in several centuries."

Harry's smile was of a cat that ate the canary as he said, "You won't have to worry about Umbitch anymore, my dear."

Hermione looked at him a bit confused and asked, "Oh? What happened to Madam Um-" She found herself unable to speak the dreaded Ministry stooge's name, save as calling her "Umbitch" as Harry had.

Harry's smile seem to grew as he continued, "She ran afoul of Magic itself it seems. Umbitch had come to Hogwarts to berate me for my _interfering_ with, and I quote, the supreme, righteous, majestic Ministry, end quote. Not that she mentioned with what I interfered with. I do know that several Death Eaters were found Squib-ified and electrocuted after they attempted to attack your parent's House."

Hermione knew that everything was okay, but still a part of her panicked for her parents and what the others might think of her parents' life-style.

"What many forget that magical House is more than just bonds of family, it's a means of protection as well," Harry explained. "When you created House Granger, that magical protection extended to your parents, yourself and your children. Any aunts, uncles, or even grandparents are not included in the initial creation of a magical house. While Granger Family Magic is still an infant, as your Lord and Master, you can call upon my House Protection, which you did, to boost your own. So when those Death Eaters tried to attack what they thought was a Muggle building, they were dealt with by the wards our magic placed over them. And since the Ministry highly restricts any truly protective wards and they _attacked_ eliminated several sources of extra income into Fudge's and Umbitch's pockets. She came here to arrest me.

"Of course, she made a huge mistake to admitting that she was interfering with a Magical House affair, thinking either that House Potter was like the other Ministry Families, who are not true Houses, or a younger House without any true magic of its own. Either way, I called Magical Judgment upon her, which should have just denoted her crimes against my House, my vassals, and my allies, which would have landed her in Azkaban for life for the blood quill, Dementors, and such. I was surprised as everyone else, when Heaven itself, literally, dropped its foot upon her sending her to Hell. Umbitch's crimes were so great, Magic itself, wants nothing to do with her. Her very name has been erased from the book of witches.

"That means no one can say her actual name anymore or refer to her a practicer of any kind of magic. Those crimes that were done with magic, have been undone. I will not speak of her crimes, but to say several Muggle-borns that were denied their proper place in our world will be joining us next school year, or elsewhere at the Ministry's expense. Or whoever should have been involved, if the Ministry doesn't survive this year."

"But what will happen," Hermione begun only to stop herself as she realized that the various Covens and Guilds should be more than able to replace the Ministry and all it's legal functions, and probably perform those duties better.

Harry led Hermione close as relief flooded through her. She had several nightmares of what Umbitch could have done to her and Harry had things turned out differently. He kissed her softly and lovingly, and she relaxed in his embrace.

After giving Hermione a few moments to compose herself, he remarked, "getting back to Black Sisters Situation." In a playful voice he added, "note the capitalizations." He continued in a regular voice, "Their situation is a mess as well. Basically, my mother was Lady Black. No she was not Muggle-born, but Squib-born. Both of my grandparents, my mother's parents were Squibs. My mother's father was the Squib son of Jean Grey, and my mother's mother was a Squib daughter from one of the cadet branches of House Black."

"Why does the name _Jean Grey_ sound familiar?" Hermione asked herself. "Of course, she was the Dark Lord Grindelwald's right-hand witch! Never a darker witch ther-"

"Hush," Harry commanded her and she did. "That's my great-grandmother you're talking about. And for the record, Xavier Grindelwald is only considered a _Dark Lord_ by the British Ministry of Magic. On the Continent, he's hailed as the _Savior of Europe_, what remains of Magical Germany and the surrounding area is because of him. Hell, the Muggle Allied Forces weren't doing much good until Grindelwald started to help them to defeat the Nazis. As it was, the Nazis destroyed much of Magical Europe's recent history and many of the new and young bloods families. A lot of the distrust of Muggle-borns and such came from the Nazi's use of their Muggle-raised against the established Magical communities there.

"Yes, Dumbledore is called the _Slayer of the Savior_ on the Continent, as well as a Dark Lord that has corrupted and ruined much of Britannia. Dumbledore has also been called _the Bloody Alchemist_, for all that work he did on magical blood. Basking in the success of his publishing of the twelve uses of dragon blood, he looked to examine House-Elf, Goblin, and Wizard blood as well."

Hermione made to protest but could not because of Harry's command upon her. She just glared at him as he knew what she was thinking and he was not allowing her to voice it.

With a grin upon his face, he answered, "Yes, language, Harry. But that's what they call him, and yes, our dear self-proclaimed Leader of the Light is the father and leader of the Blood Purity movement that has caused many of the problems within our society today. Note as Headmaster, Dumbledore is responsible for what is taught and the conduct of both faculty and students. Note, Draco has never been punished for anything he's done or said, nor any other student for similar behavior. Only I and others that have stood up to Snape and Draco have been punished. Dumbledore has given in to the Ministry on several issues, supposedly to gain something of equal value back. But Dumbledore isn't the politician that he thinks he is. He basically gave away Hogwarts and not realizing that he has nothing left now.

"Getting back to my mother, she was born Lady Grey of House Grey, which was an old House, a cadet branch of the House Black that broke away about five hundred years ago. What I only know now, is that my parents actually got together during their fifth year, as my mom helped my dad deal with the death of his parents and all that entailed. And it was during their fifth year that Lord Cronus Black, not wishing his House be passed to the cadet branch that Sirius and the Black Sisters are apart of, blood-adopted my mother, as she was the Head of House Grey, which had been a cadet house at one point, so there was a blood-line connection. Lord Black also opened her then as well. It was only in their seventh year, during the Halloween feast where a series of pranks got out of hand that happened to involve a lot of nudity, lust spice, and sex that their relationship was _exposed_ as was several others as well.

"My parents had kept their relationship a secret because of then growing Pure-Blood movements, as well as the fact that she was Lady Black, as my mom wasn't ready to face off against Walburga and Druella Black.

"Druella was the worse of the two. Whether she really could call upon demons or not, is not known. What is known is that there isn't a single Rosier who wasn't a Death Eater, and were in fact among Riddle's first followers. So it may have been only Riddle that truly wrote the contracts up. Either way, the contracts heavily favored the husbands and were heavily against the Black sisters. Andromeda was able to get out of her marriage by marrying Ted Tonks, a Muggle-born wizard with Lady Black's blessing. Riddle could not go against that. Fortunately, with that blessing, Andromeda retained the House protection, while losing the family magic that her mother stripped from her for defying her, which protected her and her family from the Death Eaters for the most part, but left Bellatrix and Narcissa at the mercy of Riddle and his followers.

"Since both contracts were made without Lady Black's blessing or acknowledgment, Black Magic did not consider them valid, in addition to which, Riddle was forced to put the standard marriage contract items in, which neither Malfoy nor Lestrange held up their end of the contract either. So either way, the contracts were broken. Both Lucius Malfoy and Rodolphus Lestrange are Squibs and heavily fined by Magic. Since they are still in Azkaban, they're did not last long.

"Cissy came to me seeking protection. Let's just say Dobby's treatment with the Malfoy wasn't limited to him nor because he was a House-Elf. I will say that Riddle in a somewhat successful attempt to display his control over his followers, kept Cissy and other witches that married Death Eaters from taking their OWLs and NEWTs, something that was unheard of at the time. And highly protested, but with Dumbledore's silent support, Riddle got away with it. Actually, Riddle had gotten away with a lot of which he did because Dumbledore either agreed with concept or was silent, he only protested the violence that Riddle did, not the so-called reason behind it.

"Cissy came to offer the only thing she could, herself. Riddle and the others had taken everything else. There isn't much more we can do here, so let's pick Cissy up and go get some new wands for you both."


End file.
